Michalczew, Gośniewice and Warka

Last week I wrote about the progress at Krężel and Chynów stations; this weekend I travel down the line to Warka, taking in Michalczew and Gośniewice stations on the way. It's taken a long time to get where we are, but that's understandable given the Covid-19 hiatus. One can see that the line from Warsaw to Warka - in particular the stretch between Czachówek Południowy and Warka - is getting ever closer to completion. But onwards from Warka to Radom - that's another story.

Below: Michalczew, like Krężel, will have staggered platforms; the 'up' platform was completed last summer and serves passengers in both directions while the 'down' platform and 'down' line (to the north) take shape. The original 1930s station building will remain. Note the temporary pedestrian crossing over the as-yet unopened 'down' line, photo taken from the as-yet unopened 'down' platform. Overhead power lines are in place, as is all the platform signage, lighting and other fittings. Won't be too long now.

Below: just south of the end of the 'up' platform, what must be the one of the last ungated road level crossings left open along the line between Warsaw and Warka.

I have a soft spot for Gośniewice station; plonked down between fields and orchards, serving a village of a hundred souls, more than half a kilometre away - it's one of those Polish Adlestrops that can't really justify their existence commercially. And yet this station - a post-war after-thought - is being comprehensively rebuilt to the same standard as the others on the line. Below: the view west from the as yet unopened 'down' platform. Note the ungated level crossing road sign; this refers to one that's been closed for good. A new one will be built, a hundred metres or so south of the old crossing; it will lie between the two staggered platforms.

Below: Gośniewice, the new 'up' platform. As at Michalczew, the overhead cables on the 'down' line are already in place.

Below: Warka station, the (current) end of the line. The new platforms near completion; as at Chynów, there are canopies to protect waiting passengers from the elements. The train pulling in has Radom as its destination, but it will stop here and passengers wishing to travel on south will have to board replacement buses waiting outside in the station forecourt.

Warka station is still very much a building site, as evidenced by this photo of duckboards made of pallets, laid down between the one functioning platform and the forecourt. The replacement bus for all stations to Radom is visible to the left of the station building. Much inconvenience for passengers travelling on.

Below: south of Warka station, there are no tracks. The new bridge over the river Pilica has been completed, the old single-track bridge having been dismantled.

Looking north-east from this spot, somewhere around here in the undetermined future (planning permissions etc) there will be a new station, Warka Miasto, a station that will actually serve the town of Warka rather than its western outskirts. But that's all in the future.

Below: a setting sun in my motorcycle mirror; between Warka and Chynów.

[A reminder of how this stretch of the line looked in June 2019 here.]

This time three years ago:
Jeziorki birdlife update

This time five years ago:
Inside Okęcie airport's new old terminal

This time nine years ago:
Thirty-One and Sixty-Three (short story about 19th century Polish uprisings)

This time 11 years ago:
Jeziorki to Jeziorki - the big rail loop

This time 12 years ago:
Automotive miscellany

This time 13 years ago:
South Warsaw sunsets