Below: Warsaw-bound limited-stop service about to pass through W-wa Dawidy station, pulled by EU47-001 'Hetman Jan Karol Chodkiewicz'.
There are 11 of these new locomotives, each one named after a hetman (historic military leader). With 50% of the funding for the trains coming from the EU cohesion funds, passengers can see the tangible benefits of infrastructure investment - public money being put to better use than letting Greece's student population continue with their free studies until they're 28. Or allowing Greek civil servants to retire on full pension at the age of 50. Each loco bears a similar plaque to the one below. Now, while Mazowsze may be Poland's wealthiest province (by far), essentially it's Warsaw and the rest. Allowing poorer towns and districts better physical access Warsaw's market helps lessen the contrast between the Rich Mazowsze and Poor Mazowsze.
Below: my first sight of one of the new Bombardier Traxx EU-47 push-pull locos, Warsaw Central station, late last month. Funnily enough, every one I've seen, every one I've travelled on, had the engine at the front - I've yet to see one in 'push' mode (though a YouTube video shows it can be done!).
Having been on a few commuting trips (and the double-decker carriages have good facilities to take bikes on board, now that the evenings are getting dark soon), I must say that the new engines make quite a difference. They accelerate smoothly and silently. Now, will they be less prone to breakdowns than the elderly EU07 locos... the jury is still out, as there have been a series of much-publicised engine failures, currently put down to teething troubles.
The appearance of the new loco is a special dad'n'lad occasion, with a father taking his boy to W-wa Centralna to see the the engine close up. This is EU47-007, 'Hetman Krzysztof II Radziwiłł'.Note the metal studs at the platform's edge to warn visually-impaired passengers. These are being installed on all of Warsaw's Metro stations.
Slowly - too slowly, I'm afraid, Poland's rail infrastructure is modernising, becoming more European.
[BTW: The 'EU' in the Polish loco designations has nothing to do with the European Union, and indeed the designation pre-dates even the EEC by decades. It's short for 'elektryczny uniwersalny' - 'S' is 'spalinowy' (diesel); 'P' is 'pasażerski', 'T' is 'towarowy' (freight).]
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Okęcie's runway remont is complete
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He stopped the earth and moved the sun
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March of Progress
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2 comments:
"Allowing poorer towns and districts better physical access Warsaw's market helps lessen the contrast between the Rich Mazowsze and Poor Mazowsze."
This might seem like Common Sense, but the evidence that improved transport networks reduce regional in equality isn't there.
I'm remembering a couple of years back to a module in my studies (at the University of Warsaw's economics faculty) so it's from my memory and I'd have to find the papers to support this, but the evidence from EU cohesion funds shows that spending money on transport networks does little to reduce regional inequality. Indeed, in some examples (I remember in Italy), it actually served to increase inequality! Spending money on communication networks (i.e. high speed internet access) was much more effective.
That said, as a train user, I have no personal problem with a little extra outside help for Masovian railways!
Its not only the Greeks who give their kids free education until the late 20's. I work in central warsaw and there is a huge number of 20 and 30 somethings in higher education here. Seems that after a 5 year undergraduate course the path for those unable to get a job is to do a phd. Ultimately for those phd's who still cannot get a job and are not suited to a life of lecturing then life as an MP or a cabinet minister is very close at hand!
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