Diving in the tunnels of the forgotten Warsaw underground line - film

Listen to this article The flooded tunnels of Warsaw’s forgotten underground line are a reminder of a misguided decision by the capital’s authorities in the 1950s. In the 1950s, in Warsaw, which was being rebuilt from the ruins of the post-war period, a decision was taken to build a deep underground line. The tunnels of

ByTomasz Andrukajtis

Published: June 15, 2011 - 09:00

Updated: July 22, 2023 - 13:56

Diving in the tunnels of the forgotten Warsaw underground line – film

Listen to this article

The flooded tunnels of Warsaw’s forgotten underground line are a reminder of a misguided decision by the capital’s authorities in the 1950s.

In the 1950s, in Warsaw, which was being rebuilt from the ruins of the post-war period, a decision was taken to build a deep underground line. The tunnels of the planned line were to be located 30-50 metres underground. According to the engineers’ assumptions, there were to be 10 stations on this line by 1956.

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However, as has so often been the case in the People’s Republic of Poland, something that was started with great enthusiasm and vigour soon fell into disuse and was forgotten. This fate was also shared by the deep underground line.

Due to a number of unfavourable factors, technical, financial and political, it was decided to stop the work. The already excavated several hundred metres of tunnels in the vicinity of the Wileński Railway Station were flooded and forgotten for decades.

But there are always people with a strange passion and an excess of free time. This is how divers from the capital remembered the flooded structure. They decided to research the topic and explore the structure, built in the 1950s. Thanks to this, today we can all peek, at least a little, into the depths of history and see the flooded tunnels of the never completed underground line.

Below is a film by Sławek Paćko showing diving in the tunnels of the forgotten Warsaw metro line near C.H. Wileńska.

About author

Tomasz Andrukajtis

Editor-in-chief of the DIVERS24 portal and magazine. Responsible for obtaining, translating and developing content. He also supervises all publications. Achived his first diving certification – P1 CMAS, in 2000. Has a degree in journalism and social communication. In the diving industry since 2008.