Down the line to Warka

Next up on my explorations of the stations between Warsaw and Radom - Gośniewice and Warka. It seems the modernisation of the Radom line is happening at an equal pace, in other words, patchy. Here's a stretch almost done, and here's another stretch way behind schedule. But generally, work on laying the 'up' track is progressing, though whether the whole length will have been laid by the end of the first week of September, the anniversary of work commencing, is unlikely. Once it does happen, all the trains will be diverted to the 'up' line and the 'down' line will be ripped up and the whole process repeated. There will be much work to do at the bigger stations, as is visible in Chynów and Warka.

We start with this view, looking toward Michalczew, which I visited a few weeks ago. Below: the station building is visible to the left in the middle distance. To the right, new electricity gantries and new rails on new concrete sleepers are visible.

Below: departure of the train from Gośniewice halt towards Warsaw and Minsk Mazowiecki. The 'up' platform has disappeared altogether; the 'down' platform currently serves both directions. Just three passengers alighted at Gośniewice. This must be one of the most remote stations on the Koleje Mazowieckie network - no asphalted roads reach it. Opened in 1972, this was never an important stop. A ticket booth and toilet have both long disappeared. Unusually, no island platform here, which suggests this halt was an afterthought, plopped down between Michalczew and Warka.

Below: looking towards Warka - the new 'up' platform will be staggered, located to the south of the 'down' platform - just as at W-wa Jeziorki. In the far distance, to the left of the tracks, the brewery buildings in Warka.

Below: Warka station, one of the original buildings from when the line was built in 1934.

Below: waiting for the southbound train to pass before crossing the track. Just as in Chynów, there will be an underground passage linking the platforms.

Below: general view of Warka station. Note the sign, placed at an angle, a good innovation, increasing its visibility! To the left, new ballast awaits sleepers and track, while to the right, track-laying equipment stands waiting.

Below: close up of the equipment taken from across the tracks.

BONUS PHOTOS: Stork nest in Pieczyska (unlike this post from 2016, the storks didn't show any symptoms of parasitical infestation. I watched them for several minutes, none was scratching itself.

Below: frog's-eye view of a pair of menacing storks.

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