The consortium consisting of Budimex SA (leader), Gulermak Agir Sanayi Insaat ve Taahhut AS and Gulermak Sp. z o.o. . have started excavation of the tunnels under Pisarzowa on the Limanowa - Kleczany section of the Chabowka - Nowy Sacz railway line n.104, part of the Podleze - Piekielko project.
Two TBMs, named after the kings of Lesser Poland: Jadwiga and Kinga, will be used to excavate the two tunnels, which are approximately 4 km long and will connect the Mecina station with the Mordarka stop. One of the tunnels will be used for train traffic, the other will be the emergency tunnel. Journey times between Limanowa and Nowy Sacz will be significantly reduced: the fastest trains will travel this route in about 20 minutes.
The first TBM to go into action is Kinga, the smallest machine, 170 m long and weighing over 600 t, which arrived in Poland at the end of December: it will dig the emergency tunnel. Jadwiga, which will excavate the line tunnel, is four times bigger. All its elements are already on site and are being assembled. Its launch is scheduled for mid-year.
The D Limanowa - Kleczany section of Line 104 is the first of several works under construction and part of the large investment by PLK SA - Polskie Linie Kolejowe in southern Poland. The trains will run through 16 tunnels, totalling 21 km. Four emergency tunnels, approximately 10 km long, will also be built.
The modernization of the D Limanowa - Kleczany section of Line 104 is one of the four sections under construction for the Podleze - Piekielko project, together with the Limanowa station and the Kleczany - Nowy Sacz and Chabowka - Rabka Zaryte sub-sections. Tender procedures are in progress for four other sections of this line: Rabka Zaryte - Mszana Dolna - Fornale (Kasina Wielka), Szczyrzyc - Tymbark, Tymbark - Limanowa and Podleze - Gdow.
The Podleze - Piekielko project consists of the modernization and electrification of the 75 km Chabowka - Nowy Sacz section and the construction of a new 58 km line, which will connect Podleze with Tymbark and Mszana Dolna. This will create a new railway line connecting Krakow with Podhale and the Sadecczyzna region. The fastest trains will travel from Krakow to Nowy Sacz in about 60 minutes. The journey from the capital of Małopolska to Zakopane will take about 90 minutes.
