The Warsaw–Kalisz Railway (), also called Kalisz Railway is a railway in Poland connecting

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and

Kalisz Kalisz () is a city in central Poland, and the second-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, with 97,905 residents (December 2021). It is the capital city of the Kalisz Region. Situated on the Prosna river in the southeastern part of Gr ...

. It was built between 1900 - 1902 by the ''Society of the Warsaw–Vienna railway'' in the Russian-controlled

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...

. The line was opened on 15 November 1902 connecting the railway junction in Warsaw with Kalisz near the border of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

and

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

. Unlike the earlier Warsaw–Vienna railway the line to Kalisz was built to the Russian broad gauge to facilitate Russian military transports and limit the potential for interoperability with the European rail network. In 1906, the ''Warsaw - Kalisz Railway'' was connected with the German railways, through a newly constructed dual-gauge line Kalisz - Nowe Skalmierzyce (a village which served as a border checkpoint). In 1910, German government built another line, from Oleśnica, via Odolanów, to

Ostrów Wielkopolski Ostrów Wielkopolski () (often abbreviated ''Ostrów Wlkp.'', formerly called simply ''Ostrów'', , Latin: ''Ostrovia'') is a city in west-central Poland with 70,982 inhabitants (2021), situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship; the seat of Ostr ...

, which shortened the rail distance between

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

and Kalisz. The line was nationalized by the Imperial Russian government in 1912. In 1914 following the start of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

it was converted to

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

by the advancing German forces. Two years later, German occupational authorities added a second track along most of route. During the war large parts of the lines infrastructure were destroyed, including two stations Kalisz and Warszawa Kaliska, the second wasn't rebuilt as retaining standard gauge eliminated the need for a separate station. In 1918, the line was taken over by the newly independent

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

, and until 1922, it served as the main connection between Warsaw and

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

. However, its importance decreased after construction of a shorter Warsaw - Poznań route, via

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 ...

, and

Konin Konin () is a city in central Poland, on the Warta River. It is the capital of Konin County and is located within the Greater Poland Voivodeship. In 2021 the population of the city was 71,427, making it the fourth-largest city in Greater Poland af ...

. Currently, the line is used mostly by trains connecting Łódź and Wrocław. Today the segment of the line from the Warszawa Zachodnia in Warsaw to Łowicz is part of the PKP line 3 of the Polish National Railways PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe, which is one of Poland's major trunk lines, connecting Warsaw with Poznań and further to the border with Germany. A segment from Łowicz to Łódź Kaliska station in Łódź is designated as PKP line 15 and the segment from Łódź to Kalisz is part of PKP line 14 which continues to Leszno and the German border.

Route

Warsaw Kaliska - Błonie -

Sochaczew Sochaczew () is a town in central Poland, with 33,456 inhabitants (as of 2023). In the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), formerly in Skierniewice Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the capital of Sochaczew County and is located approximately west ...

Łowicz Łowicz is a town in central Poland with 27,436 inhabitants (2021). It is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship. Together with a nearby station of Bednary, Łowicz is a major rail junction of central Poland, where the line from Warsaw splits into ...

- Głowno -

Stryków Stryków is a town in central Poland, in Łódź Voivodeship, in Zgierz County. It has 3,428 inhabitants (2020). It is located within the historic Łęczyca Land. History Early history The first mention of Stryków was in 1387. Stryków was a v ...

- Zgierz - Łódź Kaliska -

Pabianice Pabianice is a city in central Poland with 63,023 inhabitants (2021). Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship, it is the capital of Pabianice County. It lies about southwest of Łódź and belongs to the metropolitan area of that city. It is the thi ...

- Łask - Zduńska Wola - Sieradz -

Błaszki Błaszki () is a town in Sieradz County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland, with 1,992 inhabitants as of December 2021. History Błaszki was founded in the 14th century. In 1926, town limits were greatly expanded by including the settlement ...

- Opatówek -

References

* Grygiel, T.: Dworzec Kolei Warszawsko-Kaliskiej w Warszawie, :Kwartalnik Architektury i Urbanistyki, XXX, 1985, z. 3, s. 311–320 * Jerczynski M., Roszak T.: Szlakiem lodzkiej kolei, Lodz 2003, s. 36–53 * Polanowski, E.: W dawnym Kaliszu. Szkice z zycia miasta 1850–1914, Poznan 1979 * Sniechowski, J.: Zarys rozwoju kolejnictwa polskiego w zaborze rosyjskim, :Inzynier Kolejowy, 1926, nr 8-9 * Wretowski, D.: O znaczeniu ekonomicznem Kolei Kaliskiej, Ateneum, t. 2, z. 2, 1900, s. 136–151 {{DEFAULTSORT:Warsaw-Kalisz Railway Railway lines in Poland History of transport in Warsaw Buildings and structures in Kalisz Establishments in Congress Poland 1902 establishments in Poland Buildings and structures in Warsaw History of Kalisz

Route

See also

References