A monument was unveiled on 23 October 2015 in Tarnowskie Gory, Silesia (southern Poland) in tribute to engineer Mr Jozef Nowkuński (1868-1952). He is considered to be the greatest railway engineer in Poland.

Eng. Jozef Nowkuński supervised the construction of two major rail lines: Kaleta - Podzamcze (1925-1926), with a total length of 115 km and the Carbon Trunk line: Silesia – Port of Gdynia (1926-1933), with a total length of 552 km. The Carbon trunk line is known to be one of the three largest Polish investments in the inter-war period. It was carried during the great economic crisis of the 1930s when cooperation with the French capital greatly facilitated investment. French investors already had shares in the construction of the port in Gdynia and in several Polish coal mines. The French-Polish Rail Association SA was established in Paris (Compagnie Franco-Polonaise des Chemins de Fer), whose shareholders were: Banque des Pays du Nord, the company Schneider & Creuzot and Poland’s National Economy Bank (BGK).

The commemoration of this great Pole was initiated by Dr Adam Wielądek, who was the first Transport Minister in the Third Republic of Poland from 1989 – 90, Chairman of the International Union of Railways (UIC) from 1998 – 1999, and is now honorary chairman of this organisation.

The monument wsa created by sculptor Mr Piotr Gorol.

(Source: PKP)