The Polish Coal-Mainline - PKM
Most likely the second-to-last post about the Coal-Mainline in Poland.
An SA133 unit owned by the voivodeship of Pomerania is arriving at Somonino, a small station equipped with a couple of mechanical signals, working the last passenger service of the day from Gdynia to Kościerzyna.
The next big shock for the old Coal-Mainline of Poland, or rather what was left of its original route, was the introduction of PKM services. The abbreviation stands for Pomorska Kolej Metropolitalna - the Pomeranian Metro area Railway. The route of of the PKM is partially reconstructing the old railway line from Gdańsk Wrzeszcz (Danzig Langfuhr) to Kartuzy (Karthaus (Westpreußen) ). The difference between the original railway line and the current one is (or was, as you'll see in a second) the fact, that the first version of the PKM branched off right before Gdańsk Kokoszki to make for a convenient service for the Gdańsk airport. The PKM line then connects to the old Coal-Mainline in Gdańsk Osowa and Rębiechowo.
This required the entire part of the line between Gdańsk Osowa and Gdynia Główna to be completely reworked. Automatic signalling was added, the station Gdynia Wielki Kack was stripped of platforms (which were moved to a stop now called Gdynia Karwiny), the station Gdańsk Osowa was completely reworked and both stations shut down their mechanical semaphore signals, which were to be replaced with modern ones.
Apart from this, the station Żukowo Wschodnie got a rework, which added switches allowing the trains to turn to the side track at 60km/h, while still preserving the semaphore signals on one side of the station. This is the only case that I know of in Poland where semaphore signals allow for running at 60km/h to the side on a junction.
Next, the podg. Glińcz junction was reconstructed (now under the name Glincz, with no Ń), though in a way which makes completely no sense. Describing it here would be pointless, so I kindly redirect the interested parties to check out the place on a map service, which allows for satellite view.
In march 2024 the PKM project was expanded to include the old railway line from Wrzeszcz to Kartuzy, A reconstruction of the tracks between Gdańsk Kokoszki and podg. Glincz was finshed and allowed for running passenger trains from Gdańsk to Karutzy with no direction changes. The new line got the name "Kartuzy Bypass"
Opening the PKM line allowed for running passenger trains almost directly from the city center of Gdańsk to Kościerzyna and Kartuzy - cities which had a lot of daily work commuters to Gdynia and Gdańsk, aswell as serving the biggest airport in the area by train and providing an alternative route between Gdańsk and Gdynia for more local passengers. It is also a big forecast of what is to happen to the old Coal-Mainline.
The chronological order of posts must be kept so I can't go on without saying, that, on a completely unrelated note, almost all railway stations between Bydgoszcz and Gdynia had their signalisation at least partially replaced, with Wierzchucin and Kościerzyna remaining the last stations fully equipped with mechanical signals. It came to me as a huge surprise, because they are the biggest stations on the line and it seems like they should be the ones to get priority over the smaller stations. The reconstruction of signalling on one side of each station allowed for staffing the station by only one person on one of the signal boxes, instead of upkeeping two workers, one of each would work in a different signal tower on a different stide of the station.
Photo by Piotrek/Toprus
The Polish Coal-Mainline - PKM
Most likely the second-to-last post about the Coal-Mainline in Poland.
An SA133 unit owned by the voivodeship of Pomerania is arriving at Somonino, a small station equipped with a couple of mechanical signals, working the last passenger service of the day from Gdynia to Kościerzyna.
The next big shock for the old Coal-Mainline of Poland, or rather what was left of its original route, was the introduction of PKM services. The abbreviation stands for Pomorska Kolej Metropolitalna - the Pomeranian Metro area Railway. The route of of the PKM is partially reconstructing the old railway line from Gdańsk Wrzeszcz (Danzig Langfuhr) to Kartuzy (Karthaus (Westpreußen) ). The difference between the original railway line and the current one is (or was, as you'll see in a second) the fact, that the first version of the PKM branched off right before Gdańsk Kokoszki to make for a convenient service for the Gdańsk airport. The PKM line then connects to the old Coal-Mainline in Gdańsk Osowa and Rębiechowo.
This required the entire part of the line between Gdańsk Osowa and Gdynia Główna to be completely reworked. Automatic signalling was added, the station Gdynia Wielki Kack was stripped of platforms (which were moved to a stop now called Gdynia Karwiny), the station Gdańsk Osowa was completely reworked and both stations shut down their mechanical semaphore signals, which were to be replaced with modern ones.
Apart from this, the station Żukowo Wschodnie got a rework, which added switches allowing the trains to turn to the side track at 60km/h, while still preserving the semaphore signals on one side of the station. This is the only case that I know of in Poland where semaphore signals allow for running at 60km/h to the side on a junction.
Next, the podg. Glińcz junction was reconstructed (now under the name Glincz, with no Ń), though in a way which makes completely no sense. Describing it here would be pointless, so I kindly redirect the interested parties to check out the place on a map service, which allows for satellite view.
In march 2024 the PKM project was expanded to include the old railway line from Wrzeszcz to Kartuzy, A reconstruction of the tracks between Gdańsk Kokoszki and podg. Glincz was finshed and allowed for running passenger trains from Gdańsk to Karutzy with no direction changes. The new line got the name "Kartuzy Bypass"
Opening the PKM line allowed for running passenger trains almost directly from the city center of Gdańsk to Kościerzyna and Kartuzy - cities which had a lot of daily work commuters to Gdynia and Gdańsk, aswell as serving the biggest airport in the area by train and providing an alternative route between Gdańsk and Gdynia for more local passengers. It is also a big forecast of what is to happen to the old Coal-Mainline.
The chronological order of posts must be kept so I can't go on without saying, that, on a completely unrelated note, almost all railway stations between Bydgoszcz and Gdynia had their signalisation at least partially replaced, with Wierzchucin and Kościerzyna remaining the last stations fully equipped with mechanical signals. It came to me as a huge surprise, because they are the biggest stations on the line and it seems like they should be the ones to get priority over the smaller stations. The reconstruction of signalling on one side of each station allowed for staffing the station by only one person on one of the signal boxes, instead of upkeeping two workers, one of each would work in a different signal tower on a different stide of the station.
Photo by Piotrek/Toprus