The High Speed Railway and its impact on fighting social exclusion due to transport inaccessibility was the subject the a debate in Karpacz attended by representatives of the local government, PKP, PKP Energetyka, the government and the market regulator. The plans for the Central Communication Port and the expansion of the railway network are far-reaching. They will also be crucial for eradicating the phenomenon of social exclusion due to transport inaccessibility.
- The concept of the hub and spoke model and the Central Communication Port will certainly make our country better and more closely connected. Higher speeds will translate into shorter travel times between cities. With a carefully planned offer, this will be another impulse for development. The construction of new railway lines will allow to increase the capacity of the existing and currently modernised ones, which will allow long-distance and agglomeration traffic operators to diversify their offer for passengers. Łódź is the best example of this. It is also important to have well planned bus routes to transport passengers. High-speed railway can in several ways help us deal with social exclusion caused by traffic inaccessibility - argued Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Andrzej Bittel, who is also a government plenipotentiary for counteracting transport-related social exclusion.
Current issues
Taking good decisions while planning and developing the railway network is of crucial importance due to different voltage requirements of high speed railway.
- If we define HSR as a railway that travels at a speed of more than 250 km per hour, this will entail the need for a new power supply system based on 25 kV AC. The integration of this system with the existing one on all current 3kV lines will be a major challenge - stressed Leszek Hołda, member of the board of PKP Energetyka. - The new power supply system has its advantages - it allows trains to travel at speeds exceeding 250 km/h. But it also has its drawbacks - it generates a great deal of interference in the power grid, which has to be managed. While for operators the major challenge will be to adapt the locomotives, equipping them with dual-system drives, in the case of the power supply system the challenge is slightly more complex. Since the 25kV system is single-phase, it involves a great deal of voltage asymmetry, which has a very negative impact on telecommunications and low-current networks. We will also have to solve the problem of nodes where both systems - 3kV and 25kV - are installed, generating undesirable interactions. This, in turn, means that the entire power system for the railway will need appropriate technical protection measures, and the integration of its management will be very important - he added.
The participants of the debate agreed that the new HSR system must be well planned. - A major challenge, requiring a detailed analysis, will be to decide which sections should be equipped with the new 25kV system. In the case of a 100-km section, the increase in speed from 230 km/h, currently possible with the existing system, to 300 km/h, which would require the implementation of the new system with all its challenges mentioned earlier, would mean reducing travel time by 6 minutes on the entire section. The question is: is it worth it? It will be essential to carefully plan the selection of appropriate sections, which will be long enough and have fewer stops on the way, in order to create a properly configured system - emphasised Mr Hołda.
