The Upper Silesian Aviation Group (GTL SA) with EU Co-Funding for Construction of Multimodal Goods and Fuel Delivery Hub with Railway Siding Connection
Near the end of May 2023, The Upper Silesian Aviation Group signed an agreement with the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency for co-funding the project: "Construction of a multimodal goods and fuel delivery hub with railway siding connection at Katowice Airport." The project is carried out under the "Connecting Europe" Facility (CEF) 2021–2027 Military Mobility.
The hub will make it possible to transport goods – including aviation fuel – and provide fuel to all aircraft operating from Katowice Airport. Thanks to the new infrastructure, road traffic will be reduced in favour of rail, allowing to support the development of a sustainable transport system. The new infrastructure will be prepared to handle alternative fuels in order to improve energy efficiency and reduce climate emissions. The multimodal goods and fuel delivery hub at Katowice Airport will be adjusted for civil-military dual use, allowing to secure deliveries and continuity of operations during on-going military operations. The entire project has an interoperable nature, meaning that the new infrastructure will be intended for use by all interested entities using the airport's services, both civilian and military, as well as entities doing business in the region.
As part of the project, a railway siding connecting Katowice Airport with the Central Rail Line via railway line No. 182 Zawiercie – Tarnowskie Góry will be created. An unloading railway siding allowing to load and unload goods and fuel will be the heart of the investment; it will abut three 1000 m³ containers and two unloading stands for fuel vehicles. In the area of the hub located in the restricted part of the airport, three stands with fuelling pumps for aviation fuel trucks will be created.
"For the past four years, we have been consistently realising the project to build a multimodal goods and fuel delivery hub at Katowice Airport. In January 2019, we bought a 5.5-acre plot of land adjacent to the southeastern part of the airport from the Military Property Agency, where a military fuel base once operated. There, the Katowice Airport multimodal hub will be built, but first, from September 2019 to June 2022, we carried out the remediation of this area, i.e. we removed contamination from the ground. For this purpose, we obtained a loan worth five million PLN from the Provincial Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management in Katowice. Simultaneously, we worked on the multimodal hub project. We have also searched for possibilities of co-funding this task, which ultimately proved successful, and our project has been positively evaluated by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency," said Artur Tomasik, the President of the Board of the Upper Silesian Aviation Board.
Tomasik added: "Realisation of this investment would not have been possible without modernisation of railway line 182 Zawiercie – Tarnowskie Góry, which is also co-funded by the European Union. The reinstatement of train traffic on this line will help reduce the level of traffic exclusion of residents of Zawiercie, Będzin and Tarnowskie Góry counties, improve the airport's connection with the conurbation by public transport, and will have a insignificant impact on the development of logistics activities around Katowice Airport."
Morten Jensen – Head of Unit at CINEA – said: "Military Mobility is an important element of the EU instrument CEF (Connecting Europe Facility) which aims to adapt the Trans-European Transport network for dual civilian and defence use. Airport in Katowice fulfils these criteria and contributes to these objectives. I congratulate GTL on obtaining support from this instrument, I count on the efficient construction of the multimodal hub."