Poland’s planned high-speed railway between Warsaw and Łódź has moved through another administrative stage. Two additional location decisions have been issued for sections of railway line No. 85, part of the Warsaw Zachodnia–Port Polska–Łódź Niciarniana corridor. Under the current timetable, the route is expected to open by the end of 2032.
The project is one of the most important rail investments linked to Poland’s new central transport hub. Its target journey times are ambitious: around 40 minutes between Warsaw and Łódź and less than 20 minutes from Warsaw to the planned airport.
One of the latest decisions, issued on September 8, concerns the location of a tunnel and a section of line No. 85. Another decision covering a separate part of the investment was issued on August 31.
Location decisions are a key administrative step
The decisions concern sections of the railway corridor connecting Warszawa Zachodnia, Port Polska and Łódź Niciarniana, excluding the section directly within the planned airport railway junction.
A location decision does not yet amount to a construction permit, but it establishes the legal and spatial framework needed for the next stages of the project. It is therefore an important milestone before detailed construction approvals and works can proceed.
High-speed rail is intended to reshape travel between Warsaw and Łódź
Line No. 85 is designed as a high-speed connection linking Poland’s two major urban centres with the new airport and national transport hub. The Warsaw–Łódź section is expected to become one of the first operational parts of the broader high-speed rail network planned around the project.
Reducing travel time between Warsaw and Łódź to around 40 minutes would significantly change the relationship between the two labour and business markets. It could also strengthen rail’s competitiveness against car travel on one of the country’s busiest intercity corridors.
The airport connection is equally important. A journey of under 20 minutes from central Warsaw would make rail the primary access mode for many passengers travelling to the new hub and would allow the airport to function as part of a broader national transport system rather than as a stand-alone aviation project.
2032 remains the target
The current schedule assumes that the Warsaw–Łódź high-speed line will be ready for operation by the end of 2032. Before that happens, the project still requires further administrative decisions, construction permits, land preparation, tenders and the delivery of complex engineering works, including tunnels and new railway infrastructure.
The latest decisions therefore do not mean construction is complete or imminent on every section, but they show that the investment is moving through the formal stages required before large-scale works can begin.
