LODZ Agglomeration Railway (LKA) has announced plans to expand its network and increase capacity on existing routes by lengthening its fleet of Stadler trains.

A passenger train crossed the Poland - Lithuania border for the first time in 76 years on August 27, when a Polish DMU carried a delegation including Mrs Catherine Trautmann MEP, European co-ordinator for the TEN-T North Sea-Baltic Corridor, on the first completed section of the Rail Baltica standard-gauge line from the Polish border to Lithuania's second city Kaunas.

POLAND marked the completion of its first completely new main line railway for 40 years on August 30 with the inauguration of the Pomeranian Metropolitan Railway (PKM), a 17km non-electrified line linking the cities of Gdansk and Gdynia with Lech Walesa Airport.

KRAKOW Transport Authority (MPK) launched its new fleet of 36 Pesa Krakowiak low-floor LRVs on August 30, when the first vehicles entered service on Line 50.

MPK Wroclaw's new fleet of Pesa Twist low-floor LRVs entered passenger service in the Polish city on August 14, when the first three vehicles were introduced on Line 3.

BELARUSSIAN Railways (BC) in partnership with PKP Intercity is planning to launch a new cross-border Minsk - Warsaw service in December in an effort to improve the attractiveness of its rail services.

POLISH oil company Lotos has announced plans to float its open-access railfreight subsidiary Lotos Kolej on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

THE first of 12 Moderus Beta trams being supplied by Modertrans, Poland, for Silesian Tramways is undergoing tests at the manufacturer's plant in Poznan in preparation for the introduction of the fleet on the standard-gauge network around Katowice this autumn.

POLISH State Railways (PKP) says it will allocate funds raised from the privatisation of its power subsidiary PKP Energy towards the purchase of 10 additional Pesa ED161 Dart long-distance EMUs for PKP Intercity.

POLISH long-distance operator PKP Intercity confirmed on July 17 that authorisation of its Stadler/Newag Flirt 3 EMUs has been completed and delivery of the fleet has passed the halfway mark.