Kraków and Žilina are separated by only 175 kilometers, and 128 km as the crow flies. Driving according to regulations, one can cover this distance by car in less than three hours. However, those without a car face a serious problem – the train takes as long as six hours to cover this short distance, and there are no bus connections between Žilina and Poland.
Importantly, Žilina is also one of the most important transport hubs and transfer points in Slovakia. Once we get there, it is easy to travel on to Bratislava, Prague, Košice, Banská Bystrica, Vienna, Budapest… and many other cities, with the exception of nearby Poland.
What makes traveling by train from Kraków to nearby Žilina (and thus also to Bratislava and Vienna) so complicated? This is primarily due to the poor technical condition of the railway lines connecting Žilina with Poland. Although the route Žilina – Čadca – Skalité – Zwardoń – Żywiec – Bielsko-Biała – Katowice has been included in the EU’s TEN-T network and slated for modernization, there is still no certainty that the investment will be realized. The problem is that for both Warsaw and Bratislava, this route is not a priority, and there can always be a reason to postpone the investment to an unspecified date.
However, even the modernization of the aforementioned route will not solve the entire problem. While it will bring Slovakia closer to the residents of Silesia and Warsaw, it will not do the same for the residents of Kraków. The authors of Polish transport policy have decided that people from Kraków should travel to Žilina and Bratislava… the long way around via Katowice or, more interestingly, via the Czech Republic. Meanwhile, the train journey from Kraków to Katowice alone takes as long as an hour and a half, without bringing one much closer to the destination, as instead of heading south, we head west, and in some sections even north.
For a train journey between Kraków and Bratislava (via Žilina) to make sense and be time-competitive with driving a car, it must take place along a relatively direct route, not a circuitous one. As of today, there are three variants of this route. The shortest is the route: Kraków – Sucha Beskidzka – Żywiec – Žilina; a slightly longer one: Kraków – Kalwaria Zebrzydowska – Wadowice – Bielsko-Biała – Żywiec – Žilina. The longest, but acceptable variant leads through Kraków – Skawina – Oświęcim – Bielsko-Biała and continues along the same section. Importantly, each of them is in poor technical condition, is single-track, has several places where the train must change direction, and is considered a local, not an international connection.
How can this situation be changed? A reasonable solution seems to be the proposal to create a direct mainline connection between Kraków and Bielsko-Biała based on existing lines (direct – meaning via Skawina, not Upper Silesia). The journey between Kraków and Bielsko, which are, after all, large cities and railway hubs, should not take longer than two hours. Bielsko-Biała is in itself a large and important city, deserving of a convenient rail connection with Kraków (and through it – with the Subcarpathian region, the Lublin region, and Ukraine). On the other hand, Bielsko is not a destination in itself, but a junction railway station, opening up a route for Lesser Poland, the Subcarpathian region, and Ukraine to Žilina, Bratislava, and Vienna on one side, and to Ostrava, Prague, and the whole of the Czech Republic on the other.
In summary, the problems with rail communication between Poland and Bratislava would be solved by two investments:
1. Modernization of the Žilina – Zwardoń – Bielsko-Biała – Katowice route. It is in the plans, however, it must be ensured that these plans are implemented.
2. Recognizing the direct 100 km long Kraków – Bielsko-Biała railway line (via Skawina, Wadowice) as a mainline route, along with its thorough modernization. An express train should cover this hundred-kilometer section in no more than two hours (optimally – in an hour and a half).
The second of the mentioned investments would significantly contribute to the growth of contacts between South-Eastern Poland and Ukraine on one side, and the Czech Republic, Western Slovakia (Žilina, Považie, Bratislava), and Austria on the other. For this reason, the modernization of this hundred-kilometer section would increase our country’s transit importance as a link between Ukraine and our southern neighbors.
After these investments are completed, the distance from Kraków to Žilina will be covered by train not in six, but in a maximum of three and a half hours. The journey from Kraków to Bratislava (a city that can be considered a gateway to Austria, Italy, and the Western Balkans) would be shortened to 5 – 6 hours, which would be a quite decent and satisfactory result.
Infrastructure deficiencies are only one of the problems in communication between Žilina and Kraków. Read about the others in separate articles at www.porteuropa.eu
The article was created as part of the “Beyond Borders” social campaign, the goal of which is to draw attention to the problem of the insufficient number of transport connections between Poland and Slovakia. More on this topic at www.porteuropa.eu