Poland High-Speed Rail Draws 18 Bidders for Power System Never Used in 89 Years

Poland's first 350 km/h (217 mph) rail corridor cleared a decisive procurement milestone when the state infrastructure company Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK) announced that 18 companies, organized into eight competitive groups, had submitted applications to build the traction power substations that will electrify the Warsaw - Wrocław high-speed network. The contract covers infrastructure operating under the 2 25 kV alternating current autotransformer system - a power standard that has never once been deployed on Polish railways in their 89-year electrification history. Without it, 350 km/h (217 mph) operation is physically impossible on the existing network.The announcement marks the conclusion of the application phase of a competitive dialogue procedure - the EU procurement mechanism used for technically novel, high-value contracts where the specification must be developed through dialogue with the market rather than set in full beforehand.