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.
Lithuania To Germany Intermodal Service To Launch In April
duiThe title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Lithuanian national railway’s freight business LTG Cargo is to launch a service carrying containers and semi-trailers from the Kaunas Intermodal Terminal to Duisburg in Germany on April 4.
Trains with a capacity of up to 36 semi-trailers and containers will run thrice-weekly on the 1 500 km route. This will be LTG Cargo’s first westward service operating in three countries, with operations in Poland and Germany handled by its LTG Cargo Polska subsidiary.tail
These are more information and my thoughts.
The Route
The route appears to follow a route from Kaunas to Warsaw via
- Marijampolė
- Šeštokai
- Mockava
- Suwalki
- Buchwalowo
- Bialystok
Note.
- The links on the names are to the town’s Wikipedia entry.
- The border between Lithuania and Poland is between Mockava ans Suwalki.
- There are freight yards and change of gauge facilities at Šeštokai and Mockava.
Some of these towns are probably worth a visit, especially if like me, you have Jewish ancestors from the area.
My father’s great-great-grandfather possibly came from Konigsberg in East Prussia and arrived in the UK around 1800.
The Russian And Standard Gauge Solution
Consider.
- Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have Russian gauge railways which is 1520 mm.
- Poland, Germany, France, Italy and the UK have standard gauge railways, which is 1435 mm.
The solution has been to build between Kaunus and Šeštokai, to build Russian gauge and standard gauge tracks side by side.
Kaunas Intermodal Terminal
This Google Map may show the Kaunas Intermodal Terminal.
Note the rail yards in the middle of the map, have both Russian and standard gauge tracks.
Rail Baltica
The route taken is the standard gauge route of Rail Baltica, which is an EU project.
- It will run between Helsinki and Warsaw.
- Intermediate stops will be Pärnu, Riga, Riga International Airport, Panevėžys, Kaunas and Bialystok
- Vilnius will be served by a branch from Kaunus.
- The line will be double track.
- The line will be electrified with 25 KVAC overhead.
- Passenger trains will operate at up to 249 kph.
- Freight trains will operate at up to 120 kph.
- A tunnel will be built later between Helsinki and Tallinn.
Completion of the route between Warsaw and Tallinn is planned for 2026.
Rail Baltica I
Rail Baltica I is the first section of the route to be opened and is described like this in Wikipedia.
The name Rail Baltica is also sometimes used to mean the first phase of European gauge railway construction from the Poland-Lithuania border to Kaunas in Lithuania.
It opened in October 2016.
The new freight service will use this route to connect to Bialystok and Warsaw.
Conclusion
I have been on the roads in this area of Poland and rail freight services are needed to take the pressure off the roads.
Warsaw In The Snow
I took these pictures of Warsaw, as we wandered around the Old City.
I visited this area in April 2014 and wrote about it in Walking Around Warsaw.
Double-Headed Into Berlin
One thing that puzzled me about the train, was that our short six coach train, needed two powerful engines to pull it into Berlin at rather a pedestrian pace, as this picture shows.
Double-Headed Into Berlin
The locomotives are power Siemens Eurosprinters, which are rated at 6,400 kW each.
Compare this with the Class 90, that regularly take me to and from Ipswich, at a similar pace to that at which I crossed Poland. These haul nine coach trains with just 3730 kW.
I find all this very puzzling!
Would I Go Back To Warsaw Again?
Most certainly! But I’d certainly stay in a different hotel.
I’d also plan it better, as there is lots to see that I didn’t!
Warsaw To Berlin By Train
I did well to have a good breakfast in Warsaw before I left, as the train journey took six hours and the only complimentary food was one cup of coffee. I did have a good supply of EatNakd bars, which because of the general availability of good gluten-free food, I hadn’t been using as food.
So Warsaw to Berlin could best be described as a two EatNakd bar journey.
I took these pictures en route.
It is meaningful to compare the Berlin to Warsaw route with the line from Kings Cross to Edinburgh. The Polish route is 575 km long and makes the journey in 5 hr 24 mins at an average speed of 106 kph, as against 632 km in 4 hr 22 mins at 144 kph.
But the biggest difference is in capacity. The Polish route has four trains each way of just six coaches each day, whereas East Coast run upwards of twenty much larger trains.
Both lines are electrified and the Polish line appears to be a lot straighter, as it was generally built later than the East Coast Main Line.
Plans are afoot in Poland to improve the speed and service. This will improve the time from Warsaw to Berlin.
The cost of the ticket was €80 in First Class, which is probably probably more than you’d pay on East Coast with a prudent booking in the same class.
Breakfast By A Hard Rock Cafe
As the hotel food was so unobtainable and about as likely to be as gluten-free as a lorry load of freshly harvested wheat, I decided to get my breakfast on the walk to the station, where I would get my train to Berlin.
I had an excellent omelette with a wide range of identifiable fillings, a proper cup of tea and a large glass of orange juice, served by a charming waitress, whose English was better than wot mine is in a small cafe next to the Hard Rock one.
Breakfast By A Hard Rock Cafe
It’s underneath the white umbrellas in the picture.
Back To La Cantina For A Pizza
I was hungry and as I couldn’t get hold of decent computer to search for another restaurant, I went back to La Cantina for a pizza.
Back To La Cantina For A Pizza
It was a pretty good gluten-free pizza too!
It does seem that the art ofd cooking gluten-free pizza is spreading around Europe.
I’ve had them in several Pizza Expresses, a couple of independents in the UK, Munich, Naples and now Warsaw.
Watch this blog for another one soon!
The Anonymous Widower 