Works between W-wa Okęcie and W-wa Dawidy

I wrote about the track works going on between W-wa Okęcie and W-wa Jeziorki the day before yesterday. Taking advantage of the New Year's Day holiday (and the fact that no security guard would be on duty anywhere), I took a train to W-wa Okęcie and walked the line along the ripped-up trackbed back to Dawidy.

First I took a look around W-wa Okęcie (below). Work is progressing here at a good pace. I blogged a few months ago about the demolition of the old island platform. While the new one was being built, passenger services in both directions stopped at the old goods platform to the right of this photo. The tracks there have now been lifted, while waiting for the new modernised trackbed.

The photo above was taken from the steps of the new footbridge (under construction) that will link the platforms to the footbridge over the S79. When the 'Elka' was being built, the highways authority GDDKiA didn't extend the footbridge to the railway station. Now passengers will be able to walk safely from the platform to the bus stop (called 'PKP Okęcie') over a third of a kilometer away.

Below: walking south from W-wa Okęcie station, there's a plethora of points and sidings, many of which are disused. In the distance, the lights of the S79, lowered for the flight-path of the airport.

A few hundred metres south of W-wa Okęcie stands (just) this abandoned plate-layers' hut (below). A Radom-bound Koleje Mazowieckie service passes by on the single track...

Below ...I watch it disappear into the distance, having passed under ul. Poleczki viaduct. To the left the coal sidings.

Below: a nice new shunter in the services of Trakcja PRKiI takes a day off. The website has interesting information (in English) about the Radom line modernisation. The loco, a Newag 6Dg, is a Polish-built shunter based on the chassis and bogies of the SM42, workhorse of Polish railways.

Below: looking northwards towards W-wa Okęcie station. The line on the left has been lifted; all trains use the 'down' line for the time being. In the distance the Wola skyline is dominated by the Warsaw Spire (centre) and to the left of it, the Warsaw Trade Tower (formerly Daewoo Tower).

At the northern set of points to the coal sidings, an ex-EWS Class 66 loco (now DB Schenker) stands empty, awaiting the end of the public holiday. A common sight in the UK, these engines are now increasingly being seen in Poland, used by freight operators for hauling minerals and ballast. A Class 66 can haul a 40-wagon coal train on its own. In the past two engines (typically a ST44 'Gagar' assisted by a SM48 (TEM-2) 'Tamara' or SM42 'Stonka') were needed to take such a train from Okęcie to Siekierki power station.

I walk on past the coal sidings; the shot below is taken looking at them from the south. The S2 passes under the lines somewhere between me and the red DB freight engine in the sidings. The amazing telephoto compression of my 55-300mm zoom can be seen looking at the white marker-posts to the right; they are 100m apart!

Below: back at W-wa Dawidy, a town-bound Koleje Mazowieckie train heads north along the single track. To the right, track-lifting work stops for New Year's Day.

Below: the digger waits for work to begin again... Today's lay-up is a rarity. I've seen work going on here late into the evening; the pressure is on to reach Piaseczno and Czachówek as soon as possible.

The tender for successive phases of the Radom line modernisation is being decided soon, with eight companies bidding for the work. It's been a long time coming!

This time two years ago:
The benefits of extending the human lifespan 

This time four years ago:
New Year's stocktaking

This time last five years ago:
A walk in the wild winter woods

This time seven years ago:
Now that's what I call winter vol. 12

This time eight years ago:
When the day starts getting longer