Big new railway project for southern Warsaw

This project has been talked about for many years, but finally plans have been announced and public consultations are under way. 

I'm referring to the idea of turning the Siekierki coal-train line into a proper, electrified, suburban commuter railway, all the way to Konstancin-Jeziorna. [I wrote about this back in 2014!] Now, this project also involves doubling up track from Warsaw all the way down to Czachowek Południowy, to increase throughput capacity for suburban traffic. This therefore means four tracks all the way to Czachówek, meaning that Zalesie Górne, Piaseczno, Nowa Iwiczna and all suburban stations from W-wa Jeziorki northwards will need new platforms. Eight brand-new stations are proposed, with a further two in reserve.

This is how the project, as currently proposed, will look... [Full documentation in Polish –  Dobudowa torów aglomeracyjnych na odcinku Warszawa Al. Jerozolimskie – Piaseczno wraz z połączeniem do Konstancina-Jeziornej is here.] Below: a schematic representation of the proposed project.

At the Warsaw end, a new connection to the Radom line will be built from W-wa Włochy, allowing trains approaching Warsaw from the west to swing south directly without having to change direction at W-wa Zachodnia.

This means that W-wa Aleje Jerozolimskie will get two new platforms with three new platform edges. A new station, W-wa Instalatorów, will be built between W-wa Aleje Jerozolimskie and W-wa Rakowiec stations. Extra (island) platforms will also be have to be built at W-wa Rakowiec and W-wa Żwirki i Wigury stations. At W-wa Służewiec station, the current island platform will be removed and replaced by two new island platforms, and (at last!) a new passage under the tracks will be built allowing access to the station from the south (at the moment you either have to walk a 700m detour or cross the track illegally and jump up onto the platform). Several new footbridges are also planned along this stretch, also something to be praised.

W-wa Okęcie, rebuilt in 2016-17, will be demolished yet again and moved further north of its current location, in the form of a pair of island platforms, linked by an underground passage. Something else that's sorely needed is a new station, W-wa Poleczki, between W-wa Okęcie and W-wa Dawidy. This will be built on the north side of the viaduct carrying ulica Poleczki over the tracks and the S79 expressway, and will be hugely useful to folk working in the numerous offices and warehouses that have sprung up around here in recent years.

Another brand-new station that's being proposed is W-wa Krasnowola, on ul. Zatorze, with one island platform; this will be located north of the S79/S2/S7 expressway junction. At present, this will just be a reserve, with a planned option for building it at an unspecified later date. Four new railway viaducts will be needed to cross over the S2 just south of this location.

W-wa Dawidy and W-wa Jeziorki stations, which as long-term readers of this blog will remember were once served by island platforms, will once again become island platforms, straddled this time by not one but two tracks on either side. Ulica Baletowa will go under the railway line; a new viaduct will be built some 400m to the south connected by a new road parallel to ul. Kórnicka and joining the S7's eastern service road on the other side.

A similar story at Nowa Iwiczna, which also reverts to an island platform, and the good news for local residents is that a viaduct is in the plans for ul. Krasickiego, replacing the infamous level crossing there.

It is south of Nowa Iwiczna that the coal-train line swing off towards Piaseczno and Konstancin. This will run double-tracked (and electrified) all the way to a final stop, Konstancin-Jeziorna-Mirkowska. En route, trains will stop at the following new stations: Piaseczno Mleczarska, Piaseczno Energetyczna (adjacent to ul. Puławska - brilliant solution!), Piaseczno Julianowska (serving Julianów), Piaseczno Śniadeckich (the eastern end of Julianów) with a reserve stop at Konstancin-Jeziorna Głowackiego (for the south-west corner of the Las Kabacki forest), past the coal-train sidings, then on to Konstancin-Jeziorna, serving the town centre (on ul. Warszawska), over a new junction where the new passenger line bids farewell to the coal train, which heads off north to Siekierki power station, and finally on to the end of the line, at Konstancin-Jeziorna-Mirkowska. 

So that's the new passenger line to Konstancin. Meanwhile, on the Warsaw-Radom line, before it gets to Piaseczno station, there will be another station, Piaseczno Północ, south of ul. Słoneczna, along the route of the new DW721 bis (that phantom road from the stump-end of the new S7's Węzeł Lesznowola that will one day run to Piaseczno. This was once mooted as Stara Iwiczna station, but the DW721 bis made that plan obsolete.

At Piaseczno, a station newly rebuilt and now serving as the end of the SKM lines S4 and S40, the current platforms will be dismantled and replaced with two new island platforms serving the four tracks, and a new footbridge built at the station's southern side.

The level crossing in Żabieniec will be replaced with a viaduct. At Zalesie Górne, the current platforms will be replaced with a pair of island platforms, and the level crossing on ul. Pionierów will be replaced by a viaduct.

The same will happen at Ustanówek and Czachówek Górny, with island platforms replacing the newly built platforms that now lie on either side of the tracks. The Czachówek diamond will remain as is, with just single tracks connecting west to north, north to east, east to south and south to west spurs.

At Czachówek Południowy station, which already has two island platforms serving four tracks, the existing platforms will be extended to the south. The existing level crossing will be replaced by a viaduct 200 metres further south. And here, the four tracks will merge into the two that will carry trains local and express on to Radom via Chynów, Warka and Dobieszyn as they do today.

The upshot of all this track-doubling is that once done, during the rush hours, the line will be able to accommodate one local train every five minutes (!) and one InterCity train every 15 minutes. Excellent!

Public consultations are taking place up and down the line until early June. The full timetable of dates and venues here. (My nearest one will be in Uwieliny, near Zalesie Górne, on 29 May). My fear is an outcrop of BANANAs (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything), the radical wing of the NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard). I can see this around the project to link the Radom line from Warka to Grójec. Of the 12 variants put up for discussion, all 12 have been shouted down the local communities, including here in Chynów. 

Even if the whole Konstancin rail project goes ahead, my experience (S79, S2, S7, Warsaw-Radom modernisation, all covered on this blog) suggests that it might be 2033 at the earliest before we actually see this completed. The tender for the detailed design is not to be announced until the second half of 2025. From then, another five years could pass before construction work begins in earnest, so provided there are no delays, 2033 is possible.

This time last year:
Prime spring, Jakubowizna

This time seven years ago:
Classic car show, Nadarzyn

This time eight years ago:

Classic vehicles at London's VE-Day 70 celebrations

This time ten years ago:
Malodorous passengers on Warsaw's public transport

This time 12 years ago:
Inside Filtry - Warsaw's waterworks (Museum Night 2011)

This time 13 years ago:
Warsaw's Museum Night 2010

This time 14 years ago:
On Transcendence

Rail travel update - Radom line

I interrupt my series of Lenten posts to cover the big railway news story of today - major changes on the Radom line, affecting Jeziorki and Jakubowizna and all points south.

There is good news and there is bad news.

First the good news. The SKM now runs to Piaseczno, which means doubling the number of trains serving the line from Piaseczno, Nowa Iwiczna, W-wa Jeziorki, W-wa Dawidy and W-wa Okęcie. At peak times, these stations now have six trains an hour running into town. From W-wa Służewiec, the trains from the airport join the line, so stations between there are W-wa Aleje Jerozolimskie now have eight trains an hour to town at peak times. The two new SKM services (operated by the City of Warsaw, analogous to the London Overground lines) are the S4 that goes all the way north to Wieliszew past Legionowo, and the S40 that terminates in town.

Now the bad news. None of these trains go to W-wa Śródmieście, the station serving central Warsaw. Or indeed to any of the other stations along the Linia średnicowa - the transversal line linking Warsaw West with Warsaw East. Not only the new SKM trains, but this also affects all the trains from Radom. And that means Chynów too.

Half of the trains coming in to Warsaw along the Radom line now terminate at the newly refurbished and reopened W-wa Główna station, which lies 2km west of W-wa Śródmieście, a 25-minute walk. Of course, there are buses and trams connecting the two as well.

The other half of trains from the Radom line end up at W-wa Gdańska, 3.5km north of  W-wa Śródmieście. There is, however, "convenient change to Metro M1"; from W-wa Gdańska it's three stops on the Metro to Centrum, next door to W-wa Śródmieście. An alternative for me to get to my office is to change at W-wa Młynów, walk to Metro Młynów on the M2 line and take that to Świętokrzyska (four stops).

W-wa Gdańska lies on the northern Warsaw loop line, and like W-wa Główna, it has been recently refurbished. Now, the western end of this loop line manages to miss Warsaw West station, passing at the bizarrely twice-renamed W-wa Zachodnia Peron 9 - a name which implies that it's an integral part of Warsaw West, but it isn't. It is merely a rebranding of the old W-wa Wola station - first as W-wa Zachodnia Peron 8, and now Peron 9, reflecting the fact that Warsaw West has sprouted an eighth platform during its ongoing modernisation. 

The problem with Peron 9 is that with the current pedestrian diversions in force, it's nearly 1.5km on foot from Warsaw West Platform 1. Down one tunnel, along a long road, round the corner, across (no zebra crossing) a busy road, along this to the entrance to the ramp up to Platforms 8, 7, 6 and 5, over the pedestrian viaduct, down some steps to Platform 3, down into another tunnel and up some steps. Not to be attempted with heavy baggage or on a wheelchair. An absolute nightmare, but to give PKP PLK its due, this nightmare has been well communicated to passengers - avoid changing trains here!

You can still get to W-wa Śródmieście if you're coming up from the Radom line; if your train is terminating at W-wa Główna, change at (the main!) Warsaw West for a service that will take you to the city centre; if you're on a train to W-wa Gdańska, change at W-wa Aleje Jerozolimskie for either a train to Warsaw West and change there for W-wa Śródmieście, or take one of the airport trains and alight at Warsaw Central and walk.

As you can see, it's bloody complicated, a nuisance, and tricky to work out especially when trying to get home late of an evening after a whole bottle of wine.

This state of affairs is likely to drag on for four years, until the major modernisation of the transversal line is completed; it will entail closing the existing W-wa Powiśle (shame!) and re-siting the station further west, underground in the tunnel, nearer Rondo de Gaulle'a. All good by 2028, but until then, fun and games.

This time last year:
Angels, daemons and aliens

This time two years ago:
Reconciling science and spirituality

This time three years ago:
The metaphysical journey as I see it

This time six years ago:
Spirit of Age, spirit of Place

This time seven years ago:
The crux of the matter

This time nine years ago:
10,000 steps is a lot for one day

This time ten years ago:
Bary mleczne - Warsaw's cheap eateries

This time 12 years ago:
Old Town, another prospect

This time 13 years ago:
W-wa Śródmieście - commuters' staging post

This time 14 years ago:
Filthy ul. Poloneza

This time 15 years ago:
A sight that heralds the coming of spring

Snow, sun, Jeziorki joy

Bright, joyous day; minus three Celsius, a gentle overnight fall of snow. The perfect day with which to start astronomical winter 2021-22. Below: ulica Dumki and footpath alongside the ponds.

Below: the northernmost pond, lightly frozen (nowhere near enough to walk on yet!), sprinkled with snow, under a perfectly cloudless sky.

Below: the corner of ul. Kórnicka and ul. Baletowa - and a reminder that there are still working farms in Jeziorki. Last week's works on the level crossing were finished a day early; traffic was back to normal on Sunday.

Below: looking west along an unasphalted stretch of ul. Sporna, one of Warsaw's more unusual thoroughfares, just before it gets cut once again, this time by the railway line.

Below: clouds are drawing in from the west, bringing with them more light snow. Looking from ul. Sporna towards the distribution centre on ul. Baletowa and W-wa Dawidy station.

Below: empty coal wagons heading back towards the coalfields, hauled by a DB Cargo Polska Siemens Vectron electric locomotive.

Left: drainage ditch perpendicular to ul. Kórnicka that runs under it and into the northernmost pond. The ditch also crosses under the railway line, draining excess water from the fields beyond. The low sun catches the dry scrubby foliage; in the distance a fully laden diesel-hauled coal train heading for Siekierki power station. The sky is beautiful - I am catching that 1950s USA vibe powerfully standing here.

Below: more views of the park, looking towards the middle pond.

Below: looking towards the southern pond, increasingly overgrown with reeds.

Below: making its turn before final approach to Okęcie airport, a PZL W-3S Sokół VIP transport helicopter. The first helicopter to be designed and built in Poland.

Below: bonus shot - I saw on Twitter that an Airbus Beluga was flying into Okęcie. I've never seen one in my life; it is carrying a helicopter to Japan. By sheer luck, it is back-lit by a moon shining through thin cloud.

This time two years ago:

Betjeman and spirit of place

This time four years ago:
What did YOU do in the First World Cyber War?

This time five years ago:
Solstice sunset, Gogolińska

This time ten years ago
Extreme fixie

This time 12 years ago:
Poland's worst railway station

This time 13 years ago:
Last Christmas before the Recession?

Frustration for the local wozidupek* community

Sunday morning - I am checking Skyscraper City for the latest news of local infrastructure developments. The level crossing on ulica Baletowa (modernised just over four years ago) is being closed for a remont. This sign appeared on ul. Puławska. Traffic is being rerouted along ul. Karczunkowska and over the viaduct. This is a three-kilometre detour.

"We gave you fair warn". Several signs along the road right up to the crossing (which was closed on and off for over a year between May 2016 and August 2017 as part of the modernisation of the Warsaw-Radom line).

 Sunday afternoon, the crossing is still open - how many drivers noticed the sign?

Now it's closed. Diggers have dug right across the roadway, parallel to the rails; I suspect that drainage is being improved as flooding has occurred several times on the junction between ul Hołubcowa (the unasphalted track coming off ul. Baletowa. 

Motorists will try it on. Despite the signage, every now and then some doubting Tomasz will check whether the crossing really is closed, and will drive 500m from the junction at ul. Kórnicka as far as the railway and drive 500m back having ascertained that it is closed. 

* Wozidupek - short-distance, one-per-car commuter, who is too important for public transport. A major contributor to global warming.

This time last year:
Small local milestones, Chynów station

This time two years ago:

Brexit: what next?

This time four years ago:
Kick out against change - or accept it?

This time six years ago:
Warwick University alumni meet in Warsaw

This time seven years ago:
Pluses and minuses of PKP InterCity

This time eight years ago:
When transportation breaks down

This time 13 years ago:
Full moon closest to Earth

Improvements on the Radom line

What a glorious stretch of bright autumnal weather! From Friday through to Monday, the sky almost entirely cloudless, the sun beating down, 19C high - and glorious orange/red leaves on trees as they prepare to fall.

Time to walk, and walk and walk; make the most of the shortening day. Leave Jeziorki, take the train to Chynów, walk to the działka, afternoon stroll, morning stroll, and another afternoon stroll. Left: Your Own Marching Pace. Provisions for the long weekend. Below: my train from Jeziorki to Chynów, to my surprise, is a brand-new Newag Impuls, which I hope will start to replace the increasingly unreliable EN57s on the Radom line. 

Below: one of the oldest ones, EN57-935, three front windows and ribbed sides, broke down on Wednesday evening at W-wa Dawidy station, causing delays of up to two hours on the Warsaw-Radom line. This particular unit dates back to 1973, when Edward Gierek was first secretary of the Polish United Workers Party. It belongs in a railway heritage centre, not on a busy commuter line. 

On my walk on Wednesday evening, I'd crossed under the tracks between Jeziorki and Dawidy, and could see its lights in the distance. The level crossing barriers were down, but neither train nor traffic moved. Finally, after some 12 minutes, the train crew admitted to the crossing keeper than the train was dead and the barriers could be lifted, releasing a tidal wave of frustrated traffic. Shortly after I took this photo, the conductor informed passengers to alight from this train and cross over to the other platform. The following train was switched to the 'up' line, causing problems for trains heading to Warsaw. The knock-on effects of this breakdown lasted until after half-past eleven at night, according to email alert service Utrudnienia w ruchu pociągów na linii Warszawa – Skarżysko-Kamienna to which I subscribe.

Good to see, then, this afternoon, approaching Chynów station below, that the Impuls train I travelled on yesterday was not a one-off but seems to be a regular fixture. This is the first time I'm seeing Impulses south of Piaseczno. May there be more of them, and fewer breakdown-prone EN57s.

This time last year:
Rural rights of way, revisited

This time two years ago:

Cause of death

This time three years ago:
Opole in the late-October sunshine

This time four years ago:
Work begins in earnest on the Karczunkowska viaduct

This time six years ago:
Sublime autumn day in Jeziorki

This time seven years ago:
CitytoCity, MalltoMall

This time eight years ago:
(Internet) Radio Days

This time nine years ago:
Another office move

This time ten years ago:
Manufacturing a City of Culture

This time 11 years ago:
My thousandth post

This time 12 years ago:
Closure of ul. Poloneza

This time 13 years ago:
Scenes from a suburban petrol station

Normal blogging service resumes with a photo round-up

A short round-up of my favourite photos from the past 46 days...

Below: trackside sunset, W-wa Jeziorki looking towards Dawidy Bankowe, 18 February

Below: sunset over Drwalew, 21 February

 

Below: melting snow and ice under a clear sky, Jakubowizna, 21 February

Below: from Chynów station, looking north along the track towards the DK50. 21 February.
 

Below: Warsaw skyline; Varso tower's mast is in place, making it taller than Stalin's Palace of Culture (right). 27 February. Jeziorki in the foreground, Grabów and Służew in the middle distance.

Below: ulica Baletowa, level crossing, W-wa Dawidy, southbound train passing. 2 March

Below: crushed toy gun, in the fields between W-wa Dawidy and W-wa Jeziorki stations. 3 March.

Below: Jakubowizna, 22 March

Below: new estate, Nowa Zgorzała, drowning in mud, 20 March

Below: train, plane and passing rain - between W-wa Dawidy and W-wa Jeziorki, 8 March.

Below: approaching snowstorm, Warsaw on the horizon. This is the site of the future Węzeł Zamienie - the first junction of the S7 south of the airport. 3 April

Below: standing stones, Picos D'Avidy, 28 March.

Below: standing stones, Picos D'Avidy, 4 April.

Below: bridge over the S7 at Nowa Wola, 5 April.

Just noticed my late father's birthday; he'd have been 98 today had he lived. This morning I dreamt I gave him a present - a large-scale super-detailed sports-car model; he unboxed it and started playing with it - he was in awe of the working steering and suspension, the opening windows, the engine under the bonnet. I dreamt I gave him a present - yet forgot entirely until I looked for blog posts from this day that it is his birthday! The mysteries of the subconscious - or coincidence?

This time last year:

Coercion, persuasion, conversion and faith

This time two years ago:
My father at 96

This time three years ago
My father at 95

This time four years ago:
Happy 94th to my father...

This time five years ago:
Happy 91st to my father!

This time eight years ago: 
My father at 90

This time nine years ago:
An independent Scotland - what if?

This time ten years ago:
Królikarnia

This time 13 years ago:
Happy 85th to my father!

Two trains, two snowy days

How much Poland's railways are improving is the theme here; the modernisation of the Warsaw-Radom line has reached a milestone, as of Monday 8 February trains are now crossing the Pilica south of Warka and are carrying on to Dobieszyn. Timetable improvements mean that the journey on the semi-fast service from W-wa Śródmieście to Chynów has been cut to 41 minutes from 51 minutes, with the promise of an even faster time once the entire line is completed down to Radom.

Below: this is the RE8 przyspieszony service (R = regional, E = express, 8 = LK8, the Warsaw-Radom-Kielce-Kraków line) on its way south, stopping only at full stations and not at halts (przystanki osobowe) such as W-wa Jeziorki.
 

From W-wa Zachodnia, the only stops on the way to Chynów are W-wa Służewiec, Piaseczno, Zalesie Górne and Czachówek Południowy. Dashing through the snow, between W-wa Dawidy and W-wa Jeziorki.

Two days later, I catch a full coal train, hauled by a single modernised SM48. In years gone by, such a train would have needed two or even three engines to haul it...

Nostalgia corner - taken from the other side of the tracks, but at same point between W-wa Dawidy and W-wa Jeziorki, 31 January 2010. Three engines needed to haul the train. The modernised ST48 is based on the old Soviet TEM-2 (ST48 in Polish service). Here we see a pair of ST48s headed by an SM42. [Note Polish loco designation - first letter denotes power, so 'S' = spalinowy, or diesel, whereas ''E' = elektryczny. And long ago, 'P' = parowy, or steam. The second letter denotes use, so P = pasażerski, T = towarowy (freight), M = manewrowy (shunting), U = uniwersalny. Numbers denote type. So EU07 is the seventh type of electric loco for universal use.]

The way things were. Smell the fumes.

Below: heading south to Siekierki power station, much coal. Contributing to Poland's image as the filthy man of Europe. So - progress needed in weaning Poland off fossil fuels.

BONUS SHOT: 13 February, a coal train bound for Siekierki and a passenger train bound for Góra Kalwaria both pass W-wa Jeziorki. Photo taken from the southern end of the 'up' platform at W-wa Jeziorki station.

BONUS BONUS SHOT: 18 February, a double-decker not servicing the semi-fast pospieszony to Radom, but the all-stations service to Góra Kalwaria.

This time last year:
"I wake up at five and queue for bread and soup"

This time two years ago:
Getting over this year's flu

This time three years ago:
War and the absence of war

This time five years ago:
Sensitivity to spiritual evolution

This time six years ago:
75th anniversary of Stalin's deportations of Poles

This time seven years ago:
Peak Car (in western Europe at least)

This time eight years ago:
Pavement for Karczunkowska NOW!
[I still have to walk through mud or snow dodge speeding drivers!]

This time nine years ago:
Until the Vistula freezes over 

This time ten years ago:
Of sunshine, birdsong and wet socks

This time 13 years ago:
Dziadzio Tadeusz at 90

A Short Pilgrimage to Bid Farewell to the Day

An overcast day, but the weather forecasts are suggesting that the clouds will part before sunset. So a later departure for my daily stroll, an a strong motivation to catch the setting sun, watching the horizon roll back away from the glowing orb. Below: I'm on my way along ul. Trombity; the sun appears, the angle's low, the clouds are parting.

Below: beyond the platform's end at W-wa Dawidy station. Aviation at Okęcie airport is back to normal, rather boring vanilla passenger planes flying in from Poland's regional airports. The komary are around; ticks in the long grass mean long trousers, long socks and ankle-covering footwear. Insects - the downside of summer. Bees and dragonflies excluded.

My favourite spot of late for sunset watching, the huge hill of sand piled up between the tracks and the new S7 extension that's currently being built, is no longer accessible, as its lower slopes have already been dug away leaving just its summit. Below: a LOT Embrarer ERJ 195 comes in to land over it.

Below: the sky takes on a rosy hue, the sun's rays catch the skyscrapers under construction in the Wola district. In the foreground, the intersection of what will be the S7 and the existing S79, with the S2 running beneath it.

To the north west, the sun has dropped out of the clouds on a short journey to meet the horizon. Looking towards Paluch and Raszyn. Sunset is now at 20:41, 20 minutes earlier than at Summer Solstice. Below: I have found that which I was seeking - communion with the sunset, the purpose of my short pilgrimage.

Changes lenses - from 300mm to 10mm, from telephoto to ultrawide angle, showing the sunset in the context of land. To the right of the setting sun, the runways of Okęcie. In the foreground, giant puddles still left over from last week's rains.

This time four years ago:

Thoughts, trains set in motion

This time six years ago:
Rondo ONZ 1 at sunset - the City Sublime

This time seven years ago:
Up that old, familiar mountain

This time eight years ago
More from Penrhos

Metro rail-link bridge over Puławska: jams ahead

News is that ulica Puławska – that inescapable, unavoidable road into central Warsaw from the south – choked up solid as it is, will get worse. The bridge taking the single track linking Warsaw's Metro to the outside rail network is due for a major remont. Built in 1984 (11 years before the Metro opened!) the line links the Metro depot in Kabaty with the railway sidings at W-wa Okęcie. The bridge, spanning eight lanes of traffic (three plus three and two slip lanes) is in poor condition.

Below: from left to right – the acoustic screen of the S2 expressway; the S2 as it reaches its double-hairpin junction (where the traffic lights are); in the distance the work is under way to extend the S2 under the blocks of Ursynów, and the bridge, spanning Puławska.

Below: the bridge was built with walkways on either side. These have been closed off to pedestrians (indeed in the photo above, you can see a chap vaulting over the barrier). While there are steps at the other end of the bridge, there is no access on this side. The railway line itself is extremely rarely used; these days major movements of Metro rolling-stock are done by road (sadly). The only traffic I've seen on this line has been maintenance draisines, maintaining the track for the sake of keeping it maintained. Question – will the bridge continue to provide pedestrian access after the remont?

Further east, where the Metro rail link approaches the main Warsaw-Radom line, and the parallel coal train line. Below: in the foreground, the Metro line curves north, while in the background a bit of a rarity – a former East German loco developed from the Soviet-built M62 (in Poland known as the ST44). Post-unification, the Germans called this class of diesel freight locos BR232; this one is in the livery of CargoUnit, a rolling-stock rental firm, and is heading a rake of empty coal wagons back to Okęcie sidings from Siekierki power station.

Below: the Metro rail link, having crossed Puławska and skirted around the south-western outskirts of Ursynów, cuts through the edge of the Las Kabacki forest before reaching the Metro depot. This is a popular spot for recreation.

Below: a mountain for bikes – Bike Park Kazoora, one of Ursynów's two artificial hills made from builders' spoil from when the blokowiska were being built.

Below: the S2, meanwhile, heads east towards the Vistula (work on the new bridge is continuing on both banks); to get there, the S2 must dive under Ursynów – and indeed, under the Metro. Cut and cover by ul. Płaskowickiej, looking east.

Back by bus to W-wa Okęcie, I walk back along the Metro rail-link from where it starts. The buffers (below) are the symbolic end of the line; the link itself to the rest of the railway network runs to the right of the photo.

Just before I reach the S2 by Węzeł Warszawa Południe, I see a rare sight – a four-engined plane coming into land – an Airbus A340-300. Owned by Maltese airline Hi Fly (registration 9H-FOX), it is currently on lease to LOT Polish Airlines, and has been recently flying the Warsaw-Toronto route. No livery – just plain white. LOT is experiencing difficulty at present, with a pilots' strike and maintenance issues. Wet-leasing planes from other airlines is a stop-gap remedy for the moment.

Below: a LOT Boeing 787 Dreamliner crosses the S79 on final approach to Okęcie.

Back at W-wa Dawidy, I catch a rake of aviation fuel cisterns heading up the coal-train line towards the airport. No longer are the cisterns taken all the way into the fuel depot by rail – a new oil terminal has been built alongside the main railway line (south of the Poleczki viaduct); the fuel is pumped via an underground pipeline to the airport a kilometre away. The pipeline does away with a three-kilometre-long railway spur from the main line to the airport's fuel terminal.

Hauled by a NEWAG-refurbished SM42 (now known as a 6Dg) in Lotos livery, the train has just passed three signs warning the driver that the train will be passing points that lead onto an electrified section.

Below: a full load of biomass for co-firing with coal at Siekierki, on its way to Okęcie sidings, hauled by an ET22 loco through W-wa Dawidy station.

It is quarter past five and still light; by tomorrow the clocks go back and the sun sets an hour earlier – 16:14. The hammer of darkness is about to come down once more.

This time last year:
We are what we read, what we watch, what we listen to

This time five years ago:
Extraordinarily warm autumn

This time six years ago:
On behalf of the work-shy community

This time seven years ago:
Classic truck cavalcade

This time eight years ago
Suburban back-roads clogged with commuters

This time nine years ago:
Autumn gold, Łazienkowski Park

This time ten years ago:
Quintessential autumnal Jeziorki

This time 11 years ago:
Google Earth updates its map of Jeziorki