European Investment Bank extends €450 million to upgrade southern Poland’s key rail link

This article is published in association with European Investment Bank.

• European Investment Bank and Polish railway infrastructure manager PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A. sign new loan agreement to advance sustainable transport.
• Extensive modernisation of 120 kilometers of rail lines will benefit passengers and freight transport, while also supporting the European Union’s cohesion and climate goals.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a new loan agreement worth €450 million with Polish railway infrastructure manager PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A. (PLK SA) to support extensive modernisation of 120 kilometres of a key regional rail line in southern Poland. The investment will contribute to achieving cohesion and climate policy goals of the European Union.

“Promoting modern transport infrastructure in Poland is the EIB’s bread and butter, and we have to date provided more than 8 billion euros to that end in the country. It’s particularly important to invest in rail connections as they serve both mobility and regional development, while also benefitting climate and the environment,” said EIB Vice-President Teresa Czerwińska. “The EIB has a long-standing partnership with PLK SA in support of sustainable rail connections in Poland. Our new agreement will improve passenger and freight rail transport in the southern part of the country, and we expect more such agreements to follow soon.”

In 2024, the EIB Group provided more than €1.3 billion to local, regional and national transport infrastructure in Poland, which amounted to over 20% of total new funding signed in the country that year. The EU’s climate bank invested in rail line and rolling stock upgrades, as well as the modernisation of railway’s power system. Further funding to Poland’s national railway holding company PKP Group is envisaged in excess of €1.3 billion.

PLK SA’s planned rail works between the cities of Skarżysko-Kamienna, Kielce and Kozłów include erecting new train platforms, deploying state-of-the-art traffic control system and overhauling power lines, as well as the construction of overground and underground passages. That will improve safety, as well as boosting passenger and freight transport capacity on one of the region’s most important rail connections.

“Major rail investments contribute to the strengthening of the Polish economy. We have recently launched public tenders amounting to around €7 billion and are actively reaching for external funding to leverage these investments, with the new EIB agreement serving as a case in point,” said PLK SA’s CFO Małgorzata Kuczewska-Łaska.

Background information  

The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. Built around eight core priorities, we finance investments that contribute to EU policy objectives by bolstering climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, cohesion, agriculture and bioeconomy, social infrastructure, the capital markets union, and a stronger Europe in a more peaceful and prosperous world. 

The EIB Group, which also includes the European Investment Fund (EIF), signed nearly €89 billion in new financing for over 900 high-impact projects in 2024, boosting Europe’s competitiveness and security.   

All projects financed by the EIB Group are in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, as pledged in our Climate Bank Roadmap. Almost 60% of the EIB Group’s annual financing supports projects directly contributing to climate change mitigation, adaptation, and a healthier environment.   

Fostering market integration and mobilising investment, the Group supported a record of over €100 billion in new investment for Europe’s energy security in 2024 and mobilised €110 billion in growth capital for startups, scale-ups and European pioneers. Approximately half of the EIB’s financing within the European Union is directed towards cohesion regions, where per capita income is lower than the EU average. 

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