Broad Gauge Metallurgy Line
ST40s on the Broad Gauge Metallurgy Line.
Overview
Owner	PKP LHS Sp. z o.o.
Locale	Southern Poland
Termini	Bug River Bridge (Polish-Ukrainian border) east of Hrubieszów Sławków
Stations	6
Website	Official website
Service
Type	Freight
System	S64/R65 (main) UIC60
Services	1
Route number	65
Operator(s)	PKP LHS Sp. z o.o.
History
Commenced	15 November 1976 (1976-11-15)
Opened	30 November 1979 (1979-11-30)
Technical
Line length	394.65 km (245.22 mi)
Track length	600 km (372.82 mi)
Number of tracks	Single track
Track gauge	1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) Russian gauge
Electrification	No
Operating speed	80 km/h (50 mph)
LHS in Poland

v t e Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa
Legend
km to Chervonohrad 0 Volodymyr (Володи́мир) to Kovel 8 8 KM (8 км) 11 Volin (Волинь) 22 Ustilug (Устилуг) 29 Izov (Ізов) 34 Ludyn (Лудин) 35 0.00 Bug River Ukraine Poland border Zawada–Isow railway (standard gauge) 3.12 Hrubieszów LHS Hrubieszowska Commuter Railway (narrow gauge) 18.90 Werbkowice Zachodnie 36.89 Miączyn Zawada–Isow railway 53.75 Zamość Północ Zawada–Jarosławiec railway 59.52 Zamość Bortatycze Zawada–Jarosławiec railway Zawada–Isow railway Rejowiec–Rawa-Ruska railway 77.20 Szczebrzeszyn 87.26 Zwierzyniec Towarowy Rejowiec–Rawa-Ruska railway 107.20 Biłgoraj 119.56 Ciosmy 140.44 Huta Deręgowska Zwierzyniec–Stalowa Wola railway Lublin–Przeworsk railway 159.32 Puszcza LHS 179.26 Drozdów LHS Ocice–Rzeszów railway 195.78 Wola Baranowska Łódź–Dębica railway 210.99 Niekrasów LHS Rytwiany–Połaniec railway Włoszczowice–Chmielów railway 230.30 Staszów 238.62 Grzybów Siding to Siarkopol sulphur mine 255.15 Raczyce Włoszczowice–Chmielów railway Jędrzejów–Szczucin railway (narrow gauge) 270.79 Gołuchów Sitkówka-Nowiny– Busko-Zdrój railway Jędrzejów–Szczucin railway (narrow gauge) 296.00 Łączyn LHS 314.61 Sędziszów LHS Warszawa–Kraków railway 335.89 Kępie LHS Tunnel–Sosnowiec railway 362.40 Zarzecze 378.08 Olkusz 386.44 Bukowno Bukowno–Jaworzno railway to Jaworzno Tunnel–Sosnowiec railway to Sosnowiec 394.65 Sławków Południowy LHS sidings Siding to iron ore unloading facility Euroterminal Sławków km.00

Broad Gauge Metallurgy Line (Polish: Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa, LHS) is the longest broad gauge railway line in Poland.

Except for this line and a few very short stretches near border crossings, Poland uses standard gauge. The single-track line runs for almost 400 km from the Polish-Ukrainian border crossing, just east of Hrubieszów, to Sławków Południowy (near Katowice). It is used only for freight, mainly iron ore (more than 50% of the volume of all goods transported), coal, petrochemical products, minerals and timber.^[1] It is the westernmost direct connection to the broad-gauge network of the former Soviet Union.

The line is designated by the national railway infrastructure manager PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe as line number 65 and operated by a dedicated company PKP Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa which serves both as the infrastructure manager and traffic operator.^[2]

In the 1970s the new giant Katowice Steelworks, then in its most prosperous period, required great quantities of iron ore. The main source was mines near Kryvyi Rih (then in the USSR, now in Ukraine), from where it was transported by rail via Medyka, Przemyśl, and Tarnów to Jaworzno Szczakowa. This line had inadequate capacity to carry the traffic.

The Polish State Railways PKP considered two options: to expand existing transshipment facilities at the border (the break of gauge point) and to upgrade existing railway line to three or even four tracks to allow more freight to be carried, or to build a new broad-gauge line to ease transit across the border. The latter was chosen, the advantages cited were that the newly-designed line could be built to accommodate the heaviest trains allowed to run on broad gauge network, there would be no need for an unfreezing facility at the border (in winters ore arrived frozen solid, presenting a challenge at the transshipment facility) and PKP needed not to use its own wagons to transport the goods on the Polish network as the Soviet wagons would be used for the entire transport.^[3] A broad gauge line with direct connection to the Soviet railway network also was of strategic importance, allowing Soviet troops to be quickly deployed closer to the Iron Curtain.^[4] The new line was designed by CBSiPBK (Central Bureau for Railway Construction Designs and Studies) in Warsaw, Józef Skorupski was the general designer, Twenty-one other design bureaus, eight geological companies and three technical universities took part in the project.

The line was built partly alongside existing standard-gauge lines which facilitated the construction works.^[3] To save costs, the line was routed through Roztocze National Park despite intensive lobbying by the park management.^[5]

The line opened in 1979 and was used to import iron ore from the USSR and export coal and sulphur. After the fall of communism and the economic changes of 1989, traffic greatly diminished. In 1994 export of sulphur stopped.^[4] Various schemes are being tried to increase its profitability, such as offering transport and forwarding services to all interested customers, leasing of commercial space and some rolling stock maintenance.^[6]

In the 1990s the LHS line was used by long-distance passenger trains to Russia and Ukraine. Initially, it was one pair of fast trains from Moscow to Olkusz, running every other day. In 1993, two pairs of trains Lviv – Zamość North [pl] and Moscow – Zamość North were added. In 1994, passenger trains on the LHS line ran only once a week on the route Kharkiv – Olkusz. Since the mid-90s, passenger trains have run sporadically as special trains.^[7]

In 2001 a new company within the PKP group, PKP Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa, was established to manage the line.^[8]

On 5 January 2020 the first intermodal container train from China used the line to reach the Sławków terminal, after traveling the 9,477 km (5,889 mi) route from Xi'an via Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine over 12 days.^[9] The company operating the line hopes that regular connections with China are established, taking advantage of the fact that its wide-gauge permits quick crossing of the border between Poland and Ukraine.

The company is in the process of installing warning lights (and, in some cases, barriers) at level crossings, extending the Hrubieszów LHS station and upgrading the train control systems. The works are due to be completed by the end of 2025.^[10][11]

Since 28 February 2022, special passenger trains carrying refugees from Ukraine, during their highest influx following the Russian invasion on their country, were run on the line to Olkusz, where a tent town has been established to accommodate them before they continue travel by standard gauge rail or by road.^[12][13]

The original, 1970s name was Linia Hutniczo-Siarkowa (Metallurgy-Sulphur Line), shortened to LHS.

Sometime in the 1990s, the name was changed to Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa (Broad Gauge Metallurgy Line). The new name retained the well-established acronym LHS but dropped the Sulphur part, as sulphur is no longer traded between Poland and the East.

Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Broad_Gauge_Metallurgy_Line
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