Mega Airport Costing £24billion In Europe To Rival Heathrow And Dubai
The title of this post is the same as that of this article in the Daily Express.
A new mega airport is being built in Europe, and it is set to rival the likes of Dubai and London Heathrow in terms of size and capacity for passengers and planes alike
These three paragraphs add more details.
A plush new airport could be touching down in Europe, set to rival London’s Heathrow and even the esteemed Dubai International, as it aims to link the entire continent in unprecedented ways.
The Centralny Port Komunikacyjny, a proposed $32.5 billion project, is a fresh aviation gateway in Warsaw that carries the burden of Poland’s ambitious mega airport aspirations. However, the concept is swiftly progressing, with the official approval and handover of the passenger terminal design marking a significant leap forward.
This suggests the colossal airport is officially moving into its next phase of development. The question remains, will this new progression challenge the supremacy of the Middle East, home to both the world’s largest airport, King Fahd International Airport in Saudi Arabia, and the busiest, Dubai International Airport?
Note.
- In English, Centralny Port Komunikacyjny means Central Communications Port.
- CPK’s forecasted passenger capacity makes it a formidable contender as the new hub for Europe.
- Dubai is on course to handle 100 million passengers by the end of next year, thanks to its strategic geographical position with other continents, while the Polish project will eventually accommodate up to 44 million.
- n 2024, Heathrow Airport welcomed a record 83.9 million passengers, a 6% increase from the previous year.
Even the busiest airports in Europe handle far fewer passengers than Dubai.
Central Communications Port has a Wikipedia entry, which has this first paragraph.
The Central Transport Hub is a planned major infrastructure project in Poland aimed at the construction of a new international airport and the development of a nationwide integrated transport network. The airport is planned to be located approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) southwest of Warsaw, connected to a new high-speed rail network and controlled-access highway system linking it with much of the rest of the country.
Note.
- The airport will be designed by Foster + Partners in collaboration with Buro Happold.
- Initially the airport is planned to have two runways, but will eventually be expanded to four.
- The combined airport and railway station is planned to serve 40 million passengers per year, double the size of Berlin Brandenburg Airport.
- The long-term goal is about 100 million passengers per year.
These are my thoughts.
The Airport’s Location
The Wikipedia entry for the airport has a section called Location, which has this first paragraph.
The airport’s planned site is about 40 km west of Warsaw, next to the village Stanisławów which is part of Gmina Baranów in Grodzisk Mazowiecki County. The Baranow commune occupies a significant part of the Grodzisk County and, despite its rural character, has an extensive road infrastructure. The A2 autostrada and railway lines run in the immediate vicinity of the potential construction site, and Wrocław (Expressway S8) and Poznań (National road 92) is nearby.
It sounds to me, that a British equivalent airport, would be a four-runway airport at Birmingham Airport with connections to the M1, M6, HS2 and the West Coast Main Line.
Rail Connections
The Wikipedia entry says this about rail connections.
Planned train connections from the CPK will take 15 minutes to Warsaw Central railway station, 25 minutes to Łódź Fabryczna railway station, and 2 hours to most other major Polish cities, such as Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań and Gdańsk. The construction of a high-speed train to Frankfurt (Oder) is also planned, which is to shorten the travel time on the Berlin-CPK route to under 3.5 hours
I suspect that Rail Baltica’s trains between Berlin and Helsinki via Warsaw, Kaunus, Riga, Bialystok and Tallinn will also stop at the airport.
The Airport Will Become A Gateway To North-East Europe
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Central Communications Port become a low-cost gateway to the surrounding countries., like Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and hopefully Ukraine.
Polish Hospitality
Consider.
- Most Poles speak English better, than what I does!
- There are several large Polish cities that are worth a visit.
- The food is excellent, as the local basic ingredients are of high quality.
- I have spent about a month in Poland and I’ve stayed in all levels of accommodation from the lowest to the highest and have never felt need to complain.
- They handle my gluten-free diet with no problem.
My experience of Belarus was also similar.
DB And PKP To Expand Cross-Border Rail Services Between Germany And Poland
The title of this post, is the same of that as this article on Railway=News.
These two introductory paragraphs add more detail.
From mid-December 2025, Deutsche Bahn (DB) and PKP Intercity (PKP) are expanding their joint long-distance rail services, increasing the number of direct daily connections between Germany and Poland by more than 50 percent.
Starting on 14 December, 17 daily train pairs will operate across the border, up from the current 11. The additional capacity will provide a two-hourly service on the Berlin–Warsaw route, with seven trains in each direction.
I did a lot of this route, when I did a Home Run From Krakov.
I feel this German-Polish route will attract a lot of passengers, as it serves three excellent Polish cities Gdansk, Krakov and Warsaw, where you can spend a few days and it connects you to Berlin.
Paris – Berlin Direct High Speed Train Service Launched
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Railway Gazette.
This was the sub-heading.
A daily high speed train service linking Paris Est and Berlin Hbf was launched on December 16.
These four paragraphs outline a few details of the service.
It is operated through the Alleo partnership of SNCF Voyageurs and DB, with both French and German onboard staff and using DB Class 407 Velaro D trainsets built by Siemens Mobility.
The journey time is just over 8 h, using high speed lines from Paris to Strasbourg and from Frankfurt to Berlin, and calling at Strasbourg, Karlsruhe, Frankfurt Süd and Berlin-Spandau.
The service is targeted at both leisure and business travellers, with the operators highlighting the environmental benefits of the rail journey producing 2 kg of CO2, compared to 200 kg when flying.
Fares start at €59·99 in standard class and €69·99 in first.
Those prices seem good value.
I have just looked up going on the direct trains from Paris to Berlin on 19th Feb and coming back on the 21st.
These were the two trains.
- Paris Est – Berlin HBf 19th Feb – 09:55-18:03 – 8:08 – £52:00
- Berlin HBf – Paris Est 21st Feb – 11:54 – 20:00 – 8:06 – £86:50
Note.
- Why is it cheaper to go to the East?
- The Berlin HBf – Paris Est should allow you to catch a late Eurostar to London.
- easyJet could get you fast and affordably between Gatwick and Berlin Brandenburg Airport.
- Lumo can get you between London and Edinburgh for under £25:00.
New train services are opening up interesting trips.
Consider.
- I’ve not been to Berlin by train except from the East.
- I’ve not been to the new Brandenburg Airport.
- I’ve not done an eight-hour East-West daytime train trip across Europe.
- I want to look at Karlruhe and Chemnitz, and their new tram-trains.
I might organise my trip like this.
- Eurostar from London to Brussels
- Train from Brussels to Karlsruhe
- Overnight in Karlsruhe
- Train from Karlsruhe to Chemnitz
- Overnight in Chemnitz
- Train from Chemnitz to Berlin
- Overnight in Berlin
- Train from Berlin to Paris
- Walk between Paris Est and Paris Nord
- Eurostar from Paris to London
Note.
- I’ve done London to Karlsruhe in a day via Brussels.
- There will be three nights in hotels.
- It should be possible to do Berlin and London via Paris in a day.
I think I’ll at least plan it.
German Police Probe ‘Political Motive’ In Railway Fires
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on DW.com.
This is the sub-heading.
A series of fires hit rail infrastructure on the main line between Hamburg and Berlin overnight, leading to widespread train disruptions. Police say they suspect a politically motivated act of sabotage.
This is the first two paragraphs.
German police are investigating a suspected political motive behind an alleged act of sabotage targeting a major train route connecting the port city of Hamburg to the capital, Berlin.
Fire broke out overnight at three locations in the northern Hamburg region, affecting shafts holding railway cables.
This paragraph describes a claim for responsibility.
An anonymous letter published on the far-left website Indymedia claimed responsibility for the incident, describing it as an act of “sabotage.” The letter said it was a protest against “neo-colonial exploitation and earth destroying extraction of raw materials.”
I don’t think we want anything like this in the UK.
Siemens Bags First Fleet Order For Hydrogen Trains In Berlin-Brandenburg Region
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on RailTech.com.
This is the first paragraph.
Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn (NEB) has ordered seven Mireo Plus H hydrogen trains from Siemens Mobility. Delivery is set for autumn 2024, with first operations on the Heidekrautbahn (RB27) network planned in December the same year.
It is a detailed article. about the Mireo Plus H.
More ICE Sprinters Offer Alternative To Flying
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
The first two paragraphs, give an overview of the changes being made.
Deutsche Bahn introduced more limited-stop Sprinter ICE services on long-distance inter-city routes with the timetable change on December 12.
Sprinter-branded ICE services now operate on eight domestic routes, while a daily Frankfurt am Main – Paris service calling at Mannheim and Karlsruhe also carries the branding. Intended to appeal to business travellers, many of the Sprinter services are timed to depart early in the morning with return trips in the evening. This ensures a full day at the destination and offers a viable alternative to domestic flights.
It would appears that these services now have trains that are under the acceptable four hours.
- Cologne and Berlin
- Cologne and Munich
- Hamburg and Frankfurt Airport
If Deutsche Bahn are serious about competing with the airlines, they must surely increase the frequency.
In 2018, I travelled between Berlin and Munich in under four hours and wrote about it in From Berlin To Munich In Four Hours By Train.
This is how I started that post.
The length of the East Coast Main Line between London Kings Cross and Edinburgh is 632 kilometres.
Deutsche Bahn have recently completed an upgraded High Speed Line between Berlin and Munich, which has a length of 623 kilometres.
Both lines are not the very fastest of High Speed Lines, but lines where a consistent two hundred kilometres per hour is possible.
The East Coast Main Line was built in Victorian times and services typically take around twenty minutes over four hours, with nine -car InterCity 225 trains running twice an hour.
The Berlin-Munich route was originally built over two centuries ago, but the Germans have spent twenty-five years and many billions of euros punching a new route between Berlin and Nuremberg, through the difficult countryside of Thuringen Forest.
The route may allow the Germans to travel from Berlin to Munich in three hours fifty-five minutes, but at present you can only do it three times a day in a six-car train.
I took the lunchtime train and sat in First Class for a hundred and fourteen euros.
Deutsche Bahn have increased the trains on this route to five trains per day, but compared to London and Edinburgh on LNER, it is too infrequent, expensive with questionable customer service and not enough seats to give the airlines a run for their money.
A quick look on Rail Europe indicates that these routes have fast services at an hourly frequency or better.
- Madrid and Barcelona
- Milan and Rome
- Paris and Bordeaux
- Paris and Cologne
- Paris and Marseilles
- Venice and Naples
German rail services might be getting better, but not fast enough to take on the airlines.
‘Sleeper Trains’ London To Berlin And Prague A New Possibility
The title of this post, is the same as the title of this article on Rail Technology Magazine.
This is the introductory paragraph.
For those who have grown a travel bug during lockdown, the truth is that flying looks like it won’t be a viable option as a global pandemic persists. However, for those who dream to travel again, there might be some hope. With growing new interest, there are ambitious plans to take overnight ‘Sleeper trains’ services through the channel tunnel from London to cities around Europe .
I regularly use sleeper trains to Scotland, as they deliver me North of the Border for an early start or are ideal for coming back ;ate after a busy day.
As I can sleep with no trouble on a train and generally book a few days in advance, it generally works out that the cost of the sleeper one way is good value, as it avoids paying for a hotel.
Certainly, in the UK, if you use sleeper trains properly and have a rail-card, I find them convenient and good value. A couple of times, there’s also been a party in the lounge car.
It appears that the first sleeper trains will start from Brussels.
- NightJet already run a service between Brussels and Vienna.
- A route of Brussels and Prague via Amsterdam, Berlin and Dresden is suggested.
- These routes could be extended to London, at some time in the future.
But if they were timed appropriately, you could take an afternoon or evening Eurostar to Brussels and have supper before you get the sleeper, either on Eurostar or in Brussels.
With sleeper trains popping up in several places in Europe and becoming more fashionable with better rolling stock, I’m sure that this sleeper train would work.
Brussels and Berlin is currently seven hours with a change, so a sleeper train without a change could probably take you to Berlin for eight in the morning, if it left Brussels at about yen at night.
Hydrogen Train Operation Planned
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the Railway Gazette.
This is the first paragraph.
The Länder of Brandenburg and Berlin are planning the joint award of a contract for the development and operation of hydrogen fuel cell powered trains on the RB27 Heidekrautbahn route.
According to Wikipedia, the Heidekrautbahn looks to be an interesting rail line, which is used a lot for leisure and museum (heritage) trains.
Wikipedia also says this about the hydrogen trains.
At the end of 2017, considerations were presented for a pilot project to deploy four Coradia iLint vehicles manufactured by Alstom on the heather track, switching part of the rail service from diesel to hydrogen . This would take about 165 tons of hydrogen, reduce diesel consumption by about 552,000 liters and thus reduce the emission of CO 2 by about 2.5 million kg per year. In the case of a grant commitment, use from 2020 would be conceivable.
Note that this was translated by Google from the Wikipedia entry, which was in German.
The Railway Gazette article states that the trains will run from 2022.
So it looks like the Germans will be making haste slowly on this project.
The
Don’t Stay In The Metro One Hotel By The Hauptbahnhof In Berlin!
The only thing to recommend it, is the distance from the station, but I found it totally unfit for my purpose as I wrote in A Hotel To Avoid.
I will not be taking any chances in future and will avoid Metro One hotels.
Pizza Again Last Night
It’s not often, I’ve ate pizza two nights running, but last night I went to Pizzesco after Cielo di Berlino in Berlin.
Both were gluten-free and washed done with Lammsbrau gluten-free beer.
If you give Pizza Express 7 out of 10, then Berlin would be 8 and Munich 9 or 10.
The only trouble with Pizzesco is that it gets busier every time I go.
The Anonymous Widower 