A huge £25billion mega project set to transform European travel is moving ahead, and it’s not in the UK, France, or Germany. Instead, the game-changing development is being built in central Poland, where work is now underway on one of the largest transport hubs in the world.
The Central Communication Port (CPK), also known as Solidarity Transport Hub, will feature a brand new airport, high-speed rail links, and a massive integrated station connecting air, rail, and road networks. Located around 25 miles west of Warsaw in the Mazovian Voivodeship, the new hub is being backed by the Polish government and is expected to open in 2032. It’s being hailed as the country’s most ambitious infrastructure project to date.
The CPK airport alone is expected to handle 40 million passengers annually when it opens, eventually rising to 65 million by 2060.
Its terminal will be able to process 11,000 passengers per hour, according to Foster + Partners and Buro Happold – the firms behind the airport’s design.
The airport will be flanked by a huge railway station and transfer hub as part of a wider plan to link Central and Eastern Europe through the EU’s TEN-T network, as reported by The B1M.
Around 2,000km (1,242 miles) of high-speed rail is also being developed, including Poland’s “Y line” – a new route connecting Warsaw with Łódź, Wrocław, and Poznań at speeds of up to 200mph.
Speaking to Notes from Poland, Foster + Partners’ Grant Brooker said: “Our ambition is to create an accessible building that will improve the travel experience.
“We believe CPK will completely change the way people travel around Poland, and will also become a new gateway to Europe and the rest of the world.”
The airport will be built on a 2,600-hectare greenfield site, twice the size of Heathrow and nearly 20% larger than JFK, making it one of the biggest airports in the world by footprint.
Unlike Warsaw Chopin Airport, which has a city-imposed overnight curfew, CPK will operate with fewer restrictions.
The project has been designed with the future in mind.
Its intermodal design includes two initial runways with space for a third, tunnels for high-speed trains, and flexible terminal layouts that can be expanded as demand grows.
While Poland’s main airline LOT will be a major beneficiary, the hub is intended to attract international carriers and make Poland a new “travel capital” for Europe.
When complete, CPK could generate up to 150,000 jobs and significantly ease congestion across the continent.