Priority Project 23

 PROJECT DESCRIPTION

This axis mainly involves modernisation and upgrading of the rail route - part of the former pan-European transport corridor VI identified at the Crete (1994) and Helsinki (1997) conferences - which connects Gdańsk via Katowice and Žilina to Bratislava and through a western branch via Brno to Vienna. The corridor was identified as a multimodal north-south axis to create a complex multimodal transport system for goods and passengers with the port of Gdańsk, rail and roads. The axis touches upon four Member States: Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovakia. Its western branch passes through Brno, the second largest city of the Czech Republic, while its eastern branch passes through Žilina, a city of
growing importance with regard to automotive production in Slovakia, to the country’s capital Bratislava. The modernisation of the rail lines and the construction of container terminals for example at Gdańsk and Sławków/Katowice should generate better conditions for the development of effective intermodal transport. The works will allow increased speeds on the rail network: 160 km/h for passenger trains, up to 250 km/h for some sections in Poland and 120 km/h for freight trains in general. They will also reinforce the attractiveness of rail, enabling a modal shift from road to rail.