Warsaw Metro prepares to handle EURO 2012 arrivals

Poland’s capital city, Warsaw, is one of the host cities for the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship (EURO 2012) which will take place in June. The city is currently carrying out intensive preparations to welcome football players and fans.

Metro Warszawskie Sp. z o.o. is involved in on-going cooperation with authorities to develop appropriate solutions for the football tournament. The company has estab – lished a department specifically to take care of issues related to passenger security by making the relevant arrangements and carrying out analyses.

The department comprises Służba Ochrony Metra (the Metro Security Service) and Zakładowa Służba Ratownicza (the Emergency Service). Both units specialise in metro operations and follow strict procedures established for action undertaken in diverse situations, while constantly improving their operational capabilities through, among other things, training with the appropriate state services such as fire brigades, police and emergency services.

The underground facilities are prepared to provide transportation services to large groups of passengers. Warsaw Metro transports approximately 600,000 people a day, with more than 100,000 passengers during the morning rush hours between 7am and 9am. Each day, more than 80,000 people move in and out of the A13 Centrum Station which is situated near the official Fan Zone set up for the football tournament. Not far from the metro line, there are several sports facilities (e.g. the home stadiums of the Legia Warszawa and Polonia Warszawa football clubs).

Equipped with systems for sensoryimpaired people, all underground stations are adapted for the disabled. At stations with side platforms, passengers are notified about departures by voice response systems and there are information panels at all stations. Yellow emergency phones installed at platforms and on landings, as well as in trains, provide passengers with the ability to alert the metro service about incidents through its internal communications system.

Direct security at stations is provided for passengers by the metro supervision staff – including train dispatchers and the Central Control Room, as well as the employees of the Metro Security Service. The entire station area is under a CCTV surveillance system which is closely interlinked with the general city monitoring system.

Metro development in Warsaw

The underground metro system in Warsaw currently comprises one 23km-long line with 21 stations, providing transport to large groups of people on the left bank of the Vistula along the north-south axis. The underground facilities are constantly being modernised to improve the quality of services. In 2011, modernisation work was undertaken to improve systems that are essential for passenger security, including a traffic steering and monitoring system. Furthermore, the passenger information system is consistently being improved. Essential modernisation has been made to platforms, station entry gates and escalators, with the installation of a warning marking system, including tactile markings on platform edges. For a long time the company has been making endeavours to prompt the authorities to provide appropriate legislation for adapting the facilities for handicapped people. The permit was issued in June 2011 and refitting works began in July and were completed in August 2011.

Construction work is being carried out at the central station to link it with metro line II. The agreement, covering project preparation and obtaining the relevant construction and investment permits to put the facility in operation, was signed on 28 October 2009. The works are in progress in the central part of the city to a 7km-long section from Rondo Daszyńskiego to Dworzec Wileński. In total, 13 buildings – stations, ventilation rooms and tunnels – are under construction. The stations are built based on the cut-and-fill method with TBM drilling through the completed body of the station (excluding the C10 Rondo ONZ Station, where TBM drilling will be followed by the formation of the main body). So far, the majority of works for resolving clashes with the existing underground infrastructure have been completed. The magnitude of the tasks faced by builders is illustrated by the fact that the reconstruction of the power supply installations required 76.5km of installations. There was also a need to change 3km of heat pipelines, 5.5km of sewage systems and devices, and more than 5km of gas installations.

Renovation work at C09 Rondo Daszyńskiego Station included 48km of telecom cables, with almost 1km of heating pipes and 1.6km of gas conduit being renovated both at C10 Rondo ONZ and C11 Świętokrzyska Stations. Seven thousand six hundred metres of new energy cables were installed at the C15 Dworzec Wileński Station, with 2km of energy cables being renovated at the C14 Stadion Station.

C12 Nowy Świat Station will be situated almost 30m below ground level, which illustrates the magnitude of the problems to be solved. Situated near an area of old buildings at the corner of Nowy Świat and Świętokrzyska St., the work will require very specific technology, as the station walls will be almost adjacent to the foundations of antique palaces and old residential buildings.

Nearly 6km-long, the double tunnels of the future metro line II will be drilled with TBM disc cutters. The drilling works will commence in April/May 2012. Two disc cutters will proceed from the Rondo Daszyńskiego Station towards Powiśle, with another two coming from the Powiśle Station towards Praga, to the Dworzec Wileński Station. The scheduled progress of the works is 15km of tunnel per day. On the outskirts of Warsaw, a factory has been built to produce tubing – concrete housing for tunnels especially for these works. After the tests and laboratory examinations the elements of the housings will be transported to the construction site. Each tunnel ring will be constructed of six elements with a weight of ca. 200kg each.

The works are expected to take 48 months, and the agreement covers the performance of all the works – first the design, then the obtaining of appropriate permits, and finally the construction of the central section of metro line II. After the completion of construction works and reporting by the contractor, the accep – t ance procedures will commence which will be finalised with the issue of an operating permit.

With the commencement of construction works, the procedure of purchasing modern rolling stock has also been started. In February 2011, Metro Warszawskie Sp. z o.o. signed a contract for the delivery of 35 Siemens Inspiro trains. Each train will have six cars, creating a single space. The selected consortium of Siemens Poland, Siemens Austria and Newag Poland offered rolling stock fulfilling the very strict requirements of environmental protection, both within the scope of materials used and energy consumption. Inspiro trains will be built with environmentally-friendly materials. A large part of them will be subject to recycling. These trains will have extended mileage interval periods – about three months, which will reduce their empty run. For comparison, the 81 series rolling stock requires overhaul every 20 hours, and Metropolis every 14 days.

The maintenance of these new trains will be performed in the existing Kabaty Technical and Holding Station, where, especially for that purpose, a new railway track system has been constructed – the so-called western head. The existing electric locomotive shed has been partly modernised and a new building has been erected to house the infrastructure management services with the necessary devices, storage spaces and workshop stations. Metro Warszawskie Sp. z o.o. makes purchases with its own funds. This purchase will be subsidised with European Union funds.

The construction of the central section of metro line II is subsidised by the European Union from the Cohesion Fund within the framework of the Infrastructure and Environment Programme. The works on the construction of metro line II have started. In November 2011, Metro Warszawskie Sp. z o.o. announced the competition for ‘Preparing the Architectural and Construction Concept of Stage I of the implementation of the north-east and west section of metro line II in Warsaw’. Offers from 23 companies have been received. We are assuming that the conclusion of the competition, that is the selection of two best works, will take place in the second half of 2012.

Warsaw Metro is developing dynamically. We transport over 140 million people annually. The key task that Metro Warszawskie Sp. z o.o. sets itself in the scope of passenger service is their safety. Both the activities undertaken within the framework of the existing line I, and the plans and projects of the line II being created, are subject to this principle. We also set similar aims for ourselves as the carrier to service football fans during the upcoming EURO 2012 tournament.

About the author

Jerzy Lejk graduated from the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Warsaw University of Technology. In 2007 he graduated from the MBA. Jerzy developed his professional career working for such municipal organisations as Warsaw Development Planning Office, Municipal Roads Authority, Warsaw City Hall and Warsaw City Governor’s Office. He was also a Board Member of one of the biggest international construction companies. He started working for Warsaw Metro Company in 2002, holding the position of Deputy Director and in 2003 he became a Member of the Executive Board. He was responsible for the project of metro line 1 completion, including construction of four stations, four route tunnels (of the total length of 3.9km) and a road junction with Park & Ride, bus and tram terminals located next to the last metro station. In January 2006, Jerzy was appointed President of the Board of Warsaw Metro Ltd, also responsible for the supervision and implementation of the major investment project in Warsaw, which is the metro Line 2.

Jerzy received a number of professional training certificates in the fields of construction and environmental protection within the EU regulations, Public Procurement Law, PPP procedures and investment management.