The Łódź—Kutno railway is a railway line located in central

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, in

Łódź Voivodeship Łódź Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland. The province is named after its capital and largest city, Łódź, pronounced . Łódź Voivodeship is bordered by six other voivodeships: Masovian Voivodeship ...

, connecting the city of

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

with a railway station in

Kutno Kutno is a city in central Poland with 42,704 inhabitants (2021) and an area of . It is the capital of Kutno County in the Łódź Voivodeship. Founded in the medieval period, Kutno was a local center of crafts and trade, owing its growth to i ...

via

Zgierz Zgierz is a city in central Poland, located just to the north of Łódź, and part of the metropolitan area centered on that city. As of 2021, it had a population of 54,974. Located within the historic Łęczyca Land, it is the capital of Zgie ...

Ozorków Ozorków () is a town on the Bzura River in central Poland, with 19,128 inhabitants (2020). It has been situated in the Łódź Voivodeship (Lodz Province) since 1919. History The city's history dates back to the fifteenth century. In 1415 a sma ...

and

Łęczyca Łęczyca (; in full the Royal Town of Łęczyca, ; ; ) is a town of inhabitants in central Poland. Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship, it is the county seat of the Łęczyca County. Łęczyca is a capital of the historical Łęczyca Land. Or ...

. The section between Łódź Widzew and Zgierz stations is a part of a railway ring around the city of Łódź.

History

Construction of the railway was commenced by

Polish State Railways The Polish State Railways ( , abbr.: PKP S.A.) is a Polish state-owned holding company (legally a sole-shareholder company of the State Treasury) comprising the rail transport holdings of the country's formerly dominant namesake railway oper ...

in 1920. In 1923 the partially finished section between Zgierz and Łęczyca was opened, three years later a link to Kutno was finished. The section between Zgierz and Widzew stations was finished in 1931. The railway was electrified within two stages: in 1969 (Łódź Widzew-Zgierz) and 1981 (Zgierz-Kutno).

Current condition

The railway line is currently used for both freight and passenger services. The section between Zgierz and Kutno is listed as the railway of national importance. However, due to being single-track, the capacity of the railway is vastly limited, especially with regional passenger services from Łódź to Kutno. The railway line is mainly served by ŁKA regional trains from Łódź Kaliska station to Kutno and commuter trains from

Łódź Fabryczna Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

station to Zgierz. Also,

PolRegio Polregio (formerly ''Przewozy Regionalne'') is a train operator in Poland, responsible for local and interregional passenger transportation. Each day it runs approximately 3,000 regional trains. In 2002 it carried 215 million passengers. T ...

trains from Łódź to

Toruń Toruń is a city on the Vistula River in north-central Poland and a World Heritage Sites of Poland, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its population was 196,935 as of December 2021. Previously, it was the capital of the Toruń Voivodeship (1975–199 ...

, as well as

PKP Intercity PKP Intercity is the subsidiary of the PKP Group responsible for long-distance rail passenger transport in Poland. It operates around 350 trains daily, connecting large agglomerations and smaller towns in Poland. It offers its services under ...

trains between

Gdynia Gdynia is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With an estimated population of 257,000, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk ...

and

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

, use this railway.

Future

The railway is due to be refurbished, in order to allow a increase in operational speed. There are plans to either build up a second track on Zgierz-Kutno section, or create new railway connecting these two stations, which will run mostly intercity passenger services.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lodz-Kutno railway Railway lines in Poland Transport in Łódź Zgierz County Łęczyca County Kutno County