CPK, the development company for Poland's new transport hub of the same name, has selected a preferred route option for the proposed high-speed rail (HSR) line from Katowice towards Ostrava in the Czech Republic. In accordance with the routing, stations will be built at Zory Pólnocne, Mszana and Wodzislaw Slaski, where an intermodal terminal is also to be created. The preferred option also includes a branch to serve Jastrzebie-Zdrój, currently the largest town in Poland, with a population of almost 90,000, without rail access. Furthermore, the line would provide a more direct connection from Rybnik and Zory to Katowice and the rest of the country. The line is intended to form part of the 1,981 km network of HSR and conventional lines that CPK proposes to build. This would connect the new national central airport to be built near Warsaw by 2028 with major cities and areas of the country that are not currently well served by rail.
