Progress at Warsaw West station

Passing through W-wa Zachodnia (Warsaw West station) on my way to the office yesterday, I decided out of curiosity to jump off my train and have a look at how things were looking. The first of the three new long-distance platforms has been opened to passengers - and to trains. A reminder - this used to be Poland's worst railway station.

Below: there's to be a full-span footbridge as well as a tunnel said to measure 60m in width in which a new tram line will run.. From the footbridge there will be ramps and stairs down to platform level.

 

Platforms old and new: here's Platform 5, overshadowed by the roof of the new platforms (6 and 7)

Looking down on Platform 6, with both tracks open to passengers. Still a vast amount of work ahead of the builders, but much has been accomplished in a relatively (for the public sector) short time.

Below: looking across at Platforms 7 and 6. Right in the very distance (click to enlarge), there's a WKD [suburban] train standing at Platform 1.

The new footbridge connecting all eight platforms, the districts of Wola to the west and Ochota to the east curves away beyond the station. Reminds me a bit of the taxi ramp at Paddington station! This is the Wola side. No rails yet alongside Platform 7. Will the station be ready by the end of this year?

Below: the footbridge currently only extends as far as Platform 5. To the right, the train to Berlin, which was meant to have pulled onto Track 2, Platform 6; shortly before its arrival, an announcement came over the public address system in Polish, then English, that the train would be arriving at Track 4, Platform 5. At first, a small rush; most people just stayed on Platform 6. Then a stampede as the bulk of the Berlin-bound passengers caught wind of the change. The Berlin train waited until it was clear that everyone who needed to catch it was on board.

This might be an opportunity to re-number the platforms and tracks as normal (UK practice) - with each platform edge having its own platform number. The current numeration in Poland is crazy, and at stations such as W-wa Zachodnia or Poznań Główny or Lublin, the practice is infuriating to passing passengers. Reminder: it goes like this: 

Platform (Peron) 1 (WKD suburban trains only)

Track (Tor) 1, track 2

Platform 2

Track 20, track 22 (with me so far?)

Platform 3

Track 23, track 21

Platform 4

Track 8, track 25 (this is where it gets complicated)

Platform 5

Track 4, track 6

Platform 6

Track 1, track 2

Platform 7

Track 5, track 3 (Logical?)

And then there's Warsaw West's Platform 8, but that's in another place altogether.

This time three years ago:
From West London to South Warsaw

This time six years ago:
Anger and hate have no place in political discourse
[Blimey! How times have changed.]

This time eight years ago:
Is Conservatism rural or urban in nature?

This time nine years ago:
Poland's roads get slightly less deadly

This time ten years ago:
It's expensive being rich in Warsaw 

This time 12 years:
Winter commuting in colour and black & white

This time 13 years ago:
Zamienie in winter

This time 14 years ago:
Really cold (-12C at night)