AGH UST as a scientific partner of the Solidarity Transport Hub

STH creates a new transport system in Poland, which will integrate air, rail, and road transports. Its heart will be the Solidarity Airport and its arteries – 12 railway lines all over Poland. This means a total of 30 large construction projects and almost 1,800 km of new railway tracks. To implement this enormous project, the company needs reliable partners and top-notch research centres.

‘The AGH UST is a modern technical university that prioritises innovation and research – carried out at a high, world level and in numerous disciplines and fields of study. This is crucial to our project. We want to make use of this great potential and a multiannual experience of the University’, says Mikołaj Wild, CEO of the STH company.

The scope of cooperation between the AGH UST and STH includes joint R&D projects, implementation of research work by the AGH UST supporting the development of STH, and the organisation of dedicated professional courses. Other important provisions of the agreement include student internships offered by the company and the possibility of ordering subjects of term papers or degree theses by STH. These are only some of more than a dozen cooperation areas that have been included in the agreement.

Professor Rafał Wiśniowski, the AGH UST Vice-Rector for Cooperation, adds: ‘Due to the cooperation with a company of considerable strategic value to the development of Poland, we will be able to jointly carry out R&D and implementation projects, co-financed by Polish and European funds. A very prospective aspect of this cooperation pertains to the commercialisation of research results in the area of design, construction, and operation of the Solidarity Transport Hub. The results of research and projects related to the functioning of the airport as well as high-speed rail, its infrastructure, safety, and use, constitute a very interesting and creative challenge for the AGH UST; a challenge that we want to face with utmost meticulousness and scientific prowess. I believe that this bilateral cooperation will contribute to the development of our country.’

The cooperation with our university is one of many partnerships planned between STH and higher education institutions. Along with the progress of work, the company plans to engage a wide spectrum of scientists to implement this grand project.

The Solidarity Transport Hub is a project of an interchange station located between Warsaw and Lodz, which aims to integrate air, rail, and road transports. The project implies that within 37 km west of Warsaw, the Solidarity Airport will be built, covering 3,000 hectares of land. In the first stage, the airport will have a capacity of 45 million passengers a year. STH will also include rail projects: a rail hub nearby and railway lines throughout Poland that will facilitate transport between Warsaw and the largest Polish cities in less than 2.5 h. The investment should create more than 150,000 new jobs. The Airport City is planned in the vicinity of STH, which will include trade fair and congress, conference, and office facilities. STH is 100% owned by the State Treasury, constituting one of several national strategic companies.