Further S7 extension progress

Getting tantalisingly close to the finish, two years and four months since the first scraping away of the topsoil, the S7 extension, there's talk about opening at least the northern section by next month. I'll believe it when I hear the traffic's roar. In the meantime, some final strolls around the site and its environs...

Below: "S79, I'd like you to meet the S7 extension"... South Warsaw's equivalent of Promontory, Utah, where the two ends of the transcontinental railroad met. To the left, the S79 takes you into Warsaw; take the right-hand exit for Belarus and Russia, or turn left and carry on along the S2 for Berlin and Lisbon, or swing north around Warsaw for Gdańsk and Scandinavia. To the right, straight through to Kraków, Slovakia and the Balkans beyond.

Below: at the junction of the western service road, which connects Dawidy Bankowe with Dawidy, work is almost complete. Fencing separates the S7 from surrounding land, yellow posts mark out the boundary of the land for the road ('pas drogowy'); the final asphalt has been laid. Some pavement still needs to be finished, but the end is in sight. 

The service road that runs parallel to the S7 on the eastern side is also nearly ready. Again, the pavement hasn't yet been laid end to end, but the asphalt is down - and to my surprise - the signposts are up! Below: from where the eastern service road meets ul. Baletowa, it's six kilometres to Raszyn ('Fool's Raszyn/Where angels fear to tread')... Raszyn, the Staines of the East

...and from Baletowa, via the new asphalt of the eastern service road, it's three kilometres to Zgorzała. Note the roadsign for gated level crossing - this is at W-wa Dawidy station. While the new road sign encourages curious drivers to take a look, the road is still closed; barriers remain in place.

The big news at the other end is that the pedestrian and cycle viaduct is now officially open. Below: looking west up the newly constructed ramp that meets the bridge structure. Behind me Zgorzała, ahead of me, across the S7, Zamienie. No stairs, just a long, gently sloped ramp at either end. Wide enough for cyclists to safely pass each other. The the left, the eastern service road that takes traffic down to Nowa Wola, bypassing the village of Zgorzała, which will feel massive relief when the S7 opens.

Below: from the top, looking south towards Lesznowola. The sign, translated literally, says: TEMPORARY CROSSING. WE ASK FOR CAUTION. DO NOT LEAN OVER ACROSS THE BARRIERS!! Presumably leaning over the barriers will be OK once the crossing becomes permanent. 

UPDATE 28 May 2022: Road signs are up on the S7 - a big development. Grójec - Radom - Kielce - Kraków, this sign would have been visible on the photo above, just before the curve in the distance.

And now, some bonus shots of planes landing on RWY 29, rarely used unless the much-longer RWY 33 is being repaired or, as happened yesterday, there are particularly strong winds from the west. This creates the opportunity of catching the planes against a backdrop of skyscrapers.

Below: a LOT Polish Airlines Embraer ERJ 175 flies in front of the Warsaw Hub and Spire buildings. In the foreground, W-wa Jeziorki station, a southbound train approaching. Photo taken from the viaduct over the tracks.

Left: LOT Polish Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner in livery commemorating the centenary of Poland's independence, which occurred three and half years ago. Taken at ground level from the S7's western service road north of ul. Baletowa, with the same cluster of skyscrapers as in the photo above. Beyond the treeline, Węzeł Lotnisko, where the S2 meets the S7/S79.

Below: a Finnair Embraer ERJ 190 coming in to land, flying in front of Varso tower. Taken from south of Baletowa, so from a greater distance. 

Below: A Wizz Air Airbus A321neo - something of a Supermarionation vibe here!

This time last year:

Town and country

This time two years ago:
Covid and economy recovery

This time three years ago:
Electric cars for hire by the minute

This time six years ago:
Mszczonów - another railway junction

This time ten years ago:
The Devil is in Doubt - short story, part I

This time 11 years ago:
Stormclouds are raging all around my door

This time 12 years ago:
Floods endanger Warsaw

This time 13 years ago:
Coal line rarity

A Blustery Day

"Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage, blow! You cataracts and hurricanoes" - King Lear, Act 3 Scene 2. Dreadful winds howling all night long - I dreamt of July 1952 and the UFOs over Washington D.C., wondering whether they would descend this very night over the Kremlin... 

Saturday morning, after last night's false flags (gas-pipe explosion in Donetsk), Putin is maintaining high levels of terror over Ukraine. I can imagine the dread of its citizens, facing uncertainty that involves air-raids, artillery shelling and fire-fights.

Time to get some fresh air, time for a long walk amid the gales. I open the front door to hear the sound of flapping plastic sheets - a greenhouse has been ripped apart across the road, over 170m away, but upwind and very loud. Out by the ponds, below, more broken birches and high water (summer 2020 revealed the muddy bottom of a dried-out pond, now it's close to breaking its banks).

My intention was to do a long walk in the direction of Raszyn, but the wind was too strong. Walking along ulica Kinetyczna, I could see the planes coming into land at Warsaw's Okęcie airport from over Ursynów (Runway 29 rather than the more usual Runway 33). At least five I saw aborted their approach, throttled up their engines and did a go-round rather than dice with strong gusts near ground level. Below: the LOT Polish Airlines Embraer ERJ-195 comes into land behind a taxiing Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

I decided to turn back at Jaworowa (below), and instead of walking on to Raszyn and catching the bus home from there, I would turn back and walk all the way home, powered by a strong tailwind.

This (below) is the road between Jaworowa and Dawidy; a demarcated cycle path makes it safer for pedestrians. Gusts of wind, however, could still feel dangerous in the face of oncoming traffic.

Onward to Dawidy, a village just outside of Warsaw, where one can find blocks of flats - quite unusual. Dawidy is different in character to Dawidy Bankowe.

In Dawidy, I can see the scale of the wind damage. A fire engine and a crew of electricians were dealing with the aftermath of fallen trees and power lines.

I climb to the top of a large man-made hill of soil just off ul. Sporna. Time for lunch - sandwiches, a banana and a well-deserved bottle of IPA. From the top of this hill I have some great views overlooking the airport. And for a while, the sun popped out from behind the clouds. Below: another taxiing Dreamliner, the S2 expressway in the foreground.

Another sight from the top of this hill (standing about six metres above the ground) - a family of deer, foraging in the sodden fields between Dawidy and the S2. The closest I've ever seen deer to Warsaw!

Just to put them into perspective, here they are again, the white tails visible in the foreground, with the S2, the Palace of Culture to the left and the office developments of Służew all in view, and a Dreamliner coming into land.

Looking the other way, I could see that wind damage was being mended. Below: a fire crew dealing with a electric power pole that had been blown over onto the roof of a house. Note the new viaduct over the S7 extension in the background.

Below: fixing a hole where the rain gets in, and an unusual approach to rooftop access. 

Below: back in Jeziorki, the railway behind me, the S7 ahead - and no, this is not a pond - it is a flooded field. The Action warehouse in Zamienie and the new viaduct on the horizon.

Below: speeding south to Radom, a Koleje Mazowieckie Newag Impuls between W-wa Dawidy and W-wa Jeziorki stations.

This time last year:
Would the Universe exist if you were not there?

This time six years ago:
Dreams and visions of past lives

This time seven years ago:
Monist or dualist: which are you?

This time eight years ago:
Grim prospects for Ukraine

This time nine years ago:
Wrocław's new airport terminal

This time ten years ago:
A study in symmetry: Kabaty Metro station

This time 11 years ago:
To the Devil with it all - a short story

This time 12 years ago:
Waiting for the meltdown

This time 14 years ago:
Flat tyre

Midsummer photo catch-up

 A busy week at work, too much to do, too little time, so here's some of last week's best photos.

Below: from Zamienie, a view down ulica Starzyńskiego - Dawidy Bankowe, Warsaw's skyline beyond, and in between, a LOT Polish Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner about to land at Okęcie airport.

With Warszawa Główna station now open, the area around ul. Towarowa is experiencing a renaissance. The Nocny Market, below, is back to life as the pandemic eases - the old Dworzec Towarowy (goods station) repurposed as a street-food venue a few years ago. To see how the place looked before trendification, click here.

Below: the best display of mammatus clouds I've seen for over 14 years, hanging pendulously over Krakowskie Przedmieście. Click here for another magnificent display.

Below: Bez komentarza.

Below: ul. Puławska after the deluge; a hot, wet summer's night, lights reflecting from the pavement. A 35 tram at ul. Wałbrzyska stop, nearing its destination - Wyścigi.

Car sharing is another reason why owning a car makes less and less sense. Not only can you share a wide range of cars and vans, you can also share a 'retro', like this Zaporozhets ZAZ-968, dating back to the late 1970s. Good to see it still on the road, being enjoyed!

This time last year:
Stormy high summer

This time two years ago:

The opening of the Raffles/Europejski hotel, Warsaw

This time five years ago:
The ballad of Heniek and Ziutek

This time six years ago:
Yorkshire's yellow bicycles

This time 11 years ago:
Horse-drawn in the Tatras

This time 12 years ago:
Rain, wind and fire

This time 13 years ago:
The Road beckons

Aviation over locked-down Jeziorki

With hardly any commercial flights inbound to land, what does come over our heads in Jeziorki is a lot more interesting than the usual vanilla-flavoured procession of A321s and Boeing 737s. These strange days, when something's headed this way, the chances are good I'll see something interesting.

Below: a Polish Air Force Mig 29 fighter, normally stationed in Minsk Mazowiecki. There were at least four movements today, including a pair coming in together. NATO's Defender 20 exercise means more military flights into Okęcie.

Below: Polish Air Force CASA C-295 bringing Polish doctors back from Italy where they'd been treating Covid-19 patients.

I could hear the sound of turboprops getting louder and louder, but could see nothing in the sky. Suddenly, this Polish Air Force CASA C-295 (below) came roaring right over the roof!

An RAF Voyager KC2 (Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport) bringing a detachment of British Army Light Dragoons to take part in NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence. Good to know you guys are here!

Here's another Airbus A330, which along with the Boeing 777 is the largest regular passenger plane to use Okęcie. Of late, these Turkish Airlines planes have been flying medical supplies.

Cargo planes are more visible. SprintAir is now a cargo-only operator, using a fleet of these Saab 340A/340AFs (the latter have no windows). Interestingly, each SprintAir Saab has the same livery - but in different colours.

Below: another Saab 340, without windows and Hungarian registration, belonging to Fleet Air International.

Below: dusk delivery. Another windowless plane - this is a Boeing 737-400F belonging to Belgian freight carrier ASL Airlines.

The Polish Air Navigation Services Agency (Polska Agencja Żeglugi Powietrznej  or PAŻP) has two aircraft for radar calibration flights. This Beechcraft B300 KingAir (below)..

And this LET L-410 (below). Both planes are called Papuga ('parrot') for their garish livery.

The presidential elections are scheduled to take place by post on (or around) 10 May. Because of the lockdown, there's no campaigning. Yet for the VIP jets of the Polish Air Force, it's business as usual. I'll leave that without comment. Below: Boeing 737-800, in livery commemorating the 100th anniversary of Poland regaining its independence, and Marshal Józef Piłsudski's portrait on the tailfin.

Below: one of two Gulfstream G550 VIP transports. This one flew Warsaw-Gdańsk-Wrocław-Warsaw.

Below: the Antonov An-225's smaller brother, the An-124 Condor. Seen at Okęcie every now and then - this one belongs to Volga-Dnepr Airlines.

Because there's hardly any passenger flights in and out of Okęcie, there's a lot more general aviation around, small planes that would get in the way of regular scheduled airliners. Below: A Diamond DA42 Twin Star, a twin-prop four-seater light aircraft. A particularly lovely design, with diesel engines!

The beautiful cloudless skies made for perfect conditions for aerial photography, another common sight above Warsaw was SP-GEO, a Vulcanair P68 Observer 2, flying grids north-south covering the entire city and its environs. And there have been a great many flights of the Polish air ambulance service, another Italian twin-prop, a Piaggio Avanti. Immediately recognisable by its loud whining sound, caused by the pusher layout (propellers pointing backwards) and nose-mounted winglets.

Finally, another Polish Air Force transport type that's regularly seen these days is this PZL M28 Skytruck is a Polish-built light cargo and passenger plane, produced by PZL Mielec, as a development of license-built Antonov An-28. It has notable short take-off characteristics. Note, the camouflage pattern extends under the wings!

My lockdown working day has me sitting in my bedroom (better line of sight than the study downstairs) between 9 and 5; in the background on my laptop I have FlightRadar24 and ADSBexchange. The former is well-known; the latter gives a better chance of seeing military flights (as long as they have their transponders switched on). With advance warning, I can be ready to snap the planes as they fly over!

UPDATE: 26 April - caught this one over the house - an RAF A400M Atlas. Only the second time I've seen one (first time was here).

This time last year:
Easter in Ealing

This time four years ago:
WiFi works on Polish train shock

This time five years ago:
My dream camera, just around the corner
[No, the Nikon Z6/Z7 don't make the grade]

This time seven year ago:
Longer, lighter lens

This time eight  years ago:
New engine on the coal train 

This time nine years ago
High time to leave the car at home

This time ten years ago:
The answer to urban commuting

This time 13 years ago:
Far away across the fields

Photo round-up, London, Warsaw and Kraków

From Ealing to Warsaw to Kraków and back to Warsaw, pics from last week that I haven't got round to uploading, all in one post.

Below: three double-deckers on Scotch Common, West Ealing. I have a thing about buses moving around this part of Ealing after dark, especially the double-deckers. Lit up, few people inside, and so frequent. During the rush hour, Argyle Road is choked up solid with traffic, but this photo was taken around 9pm, and the buses come all at once.

Below: Kensington Olympia station, now served by London Overground and Southern trains. To my surprise, I found I could get from Ealing to Balham by Tube via Shepherd's Bush, changing here for a Southern National-Rail train that uses the West London line passing through Kensington Olympia and Clapham Junction. Very useful!

Left: the Polish church in Balham, not far from the White Eagle Polish club, venue for the Sixth Congress of Polish Entrepreneurs in the UK. I was moderating the first panel discussion of the event, and was grateful that thanks to this link. Getting to Balham from Ealing so quickly rather than going all the way into town and changing for the Northern Line at Tottenham Court Road was a pleasant transportation surprise.

Below: from my last visit to London in October, a shot of British Airways' Airbus A319 in 1960s British European Airways retro livery at Heathrow. Lovely!

Below: taking off from Heathrow this Monday, I managed to snap this Boeing 747 in 1970s British Overseas Airways Corporation retro livery. British Airways has four aircraft painted in retro liveries for its centenary year.

Back in Warsaw, I catch the daily Air China service to Beijing taking off from Okęcie. It's an Airbus A330, one of the largest airliners to use the airport.

Below: a late (1920s) Ford Model T Tourer, being transported through the centre of Warsaw.

The number plate says it's an exhibit from the national technical museum (Narodowy Muzeum Techniki) based in the Palace of Culture, not far from where the photo was taken.

Left: above and below ground, the pavements of ulica Świętokrzyska, looking down into the entrance to Metro Line 2 at Świętokrzyska station.

Last month Line 2 was extended three stops further north-east towards Bródno; next year the line will be extended westward too. The interchange station here connects Line 2 (red line) with Line 1 (blue line).

Below: Trasa Łazienkowska looking west, busy with rush-hour traffic. Note bus lanes in both directions.

Below: W-wa Zachodnia station, evening rush hour, looking east towards the city centre.

Below: a PESA Dart train passes W-wa Ochota on its way to its destination, W-wa Wschodnia.

Below: a day trip to Kraków on Wednesday to take part in a panel discussion about Brexit (along with Michel Barnier's chief advisor). I had time to walk from the station to the new conference centre on the south bank of the Vistula, venue for the Open Eyes Economic Forum. This is ul. Starowiślna.

Below: Wawel Castle by night. I haven't been here for over 40 years, but somehow don't feel attracted by guided tours.

Final shot - on the wall of ul. Smocza 10, Kraków, an exhortation to do less. A bit like the graffiti I spotted in Warsaw in early 2016 which read 'The only sustainable growth is degrowth'. Maybe we do too much and think too little?

This time three years ago:
Poland's North-West Frontier

This time four years ago:
Cars must fade from our cities

This time six years ago:
Unnecessary street lighting wastes money

This time seven years ago:
Warsaw's heros on the walls

This time eight years ago:
Tax dodge or public service?

This time ten years ago:
Warsaw's woodlands in autumn

This time 11 years ago:
Still here, the early snow

This time 12 years ago:
Another point of view