Polish State Railways


The Polish State Railways is a Polish state-owned holding company comprising the rail transport holdings of the country's formerly dominant namesake railway operator. The company was reformed in 2001 when the former Polish State Railways state-owned enterprise was divided into several units based on the need for separation between infrastructure management and transport operations. Polish State Railways is the dominant company in the PKP Group collective that resulted from the split, and maintains 100% share control, being fully responsible for the assets of all of the other PKP Group component companies.

PKP today

PKP is currently the parent company of the PKP Group, passenger operators PKP Intercity and PKP Szybka Kolej Miejska w Trójmieście. Freight carriers PKP Cargo and PKP Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa are also parts of the group. PKP is also one of the largest real estate managers in Poland.

History

World War I and interwar years

Regaining independence on 11 November 1918 allowed Poland to reclaim the former Russian and Austrian sectors from military railways. The Railway Department in the Ministry of Communication was created and the Polish railways were officially named Polskie Koleje Państwowe.
In December 1918, the Greater Poland Uprising started. The rebels took over the former Prussian sector of railways. One year later, after the Polish–Ukrainian War ended, the former Austrian railway directorate was taken over by Poland. Taking over the railways from Prussians lasted until 1921.
After Polish victory in the Polish–Soviet War, the retreating Communists caused heavy damage to railways in eastern Poland. At the same time, tense relations with Lithuania led to partial disintegration and stagnation of the railways around Vilnius and Minsk. The Libau–Romny Railway was not recovered.
The Polish railways administration finally took over the railways in Upper Silesia in 1922. That same year, a decision was made to divide railways in Poland into nine administrative districts.
An economic crisis in the 1930s forced the state to cut back its budget for railway investment. Profit decreased by 50% compared to 1929. The next year, over 23,000 PKP employees had been dismissed and protests and strikes caused authorities to try to find a solution. The end of the crisis and an increase in cargo transport and income came in 1937.

World War II

Following the German invasion on 1 September 1939 and the Soviet invasion of eastern Poland on 17 September 1939, most Polish rolling stock fell into Soviet hands.
File:Gdańsk 2010-07-12 016.jpg|thumb|left|Gdańsk Główny is one of Poland's largest category A stations.
The Polish railways in Silesia, Greater Poland and Pomerania were adopted by German railways Deutsche Reichsbahn on 25 September. The Polish railways in Generalgouvernement became Ostbahn.
Until the last moment before the German attack on the Soviet Union in 1941, cargo trains transported goods from the Soviet Union to Germany. The beginning of German attacks on the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 resulted in the possession of railway and rolling stock by the Ostbahn and the possession of PKP rolling stock with Russian Broad Gauge track and reconstruction to standard gauge. The beginning of organized sabotage by the Polish resistance movement on railways took place about the same time.
In 1942, production of simple military-use DR Kriegslok BR52 steam locomotives began in Poznań and Chrzanów; the steam boilers for these locomotives were produced in Sosnowiec.
The Warsaw Uprising caused widespread damage of Warsaw rolling stock, network and electric traction; both bridges over the Vistula River and the tunnel on the Warsaw Cross-City Line were destroyed.
At the beginning of 1945, the Ministry of Transport was created, as well as the Regional Directorate of National Railways. Many pre-war locomotives were sent to the Soviet Union. Poland received German locomotives as a compensation for war losses. In June, the rail connection with Warsaw was opened, using a temporary railway station made of warehouses. On 15 September 1945, PKP took over management of all railway lines on former German, now Polish Western and Northeastern land from the Soviet Union. Due to the Red Army's rapid advance into Germany proper, the railway lines of Silesia, Farther Pomerania, and East Prussia largely remained intact, so that operations could be resumed. However, on many lines, the second track was removed and transported to the Soviet Union as war reparations. Because the Polish did have enough personnel, Germans continued their work, to be deported only in 1946. Revising station names took quite some time, often causing confusion because the decreed Polish names were once again changed. Maps of the Polish railroad network still reflect the borders drawn in 1945, because in the lands annexed in 1945, railroad lines are relatively dense. In the former territory of Congress Poland, however, only a few still existing main lines had been built in the 19th century.

Post-war years

During the mid-to-late communist era, the state of the Polish railways deteriorated to a large extent. Once a large and profitable network, the systemic lack of funding and failure to acquire new rolling stock left PKP far behind the railway operators of Western Europe in terms of technical advances and passenger comfort. In addition to this, the poor state of many rail lines throughout the country led to ever-increasing journey times for passengers, and as a result left the railways far less able to compete with intercity bus and air services. During the entire communist period, only one major infrastructural project relating to the railways was completed. This, the Central Trunk Line, was a prestige project completed in 1976, intended both for heavy coal transport and fast passenger services. This line for the first time allowed passengers to travel in comfort and at relatively high speed from Kraków and Katowice to Warsaw; however, high-speed services have never started, although test runs reached 250 km/h in 1994. Moreover, despite the successful completion of the section from southern to central Poland, the planned extension to Gdańsk and the country's Baltic ports was never realised, and this significantly curtailed both the usefulness and potential of the line.
The PKP has been a tourist attraction for British trainspotters since at least the mid-twentieth century. The late withdrawal of steam power on the PKP system meant that Poland was an attractive destination for rail enthusiasts long after steam had ended on Britain’s railways. The last PKP steam shed in Wolsztyn has remained in operation as a result of this tourism and continues to operate regular steam hauled services.

1990 to today

Since Poland's return to democracy in the early 1990s, the Polish State Railways have faced ever-increasing competition from private automotive transport and the country's rapidly expanding network of motorways and express roads. However, ever-decreasing journey times, better schedules which allow for well-coordinated connections, the rise of private operators and large-scale investment in infrastructure, in many cases aided by European Union funding, as well as new rolling stock is slowly enticing people back onto the railways.
On 14 December 2014 PKP Intercity Pendolino trains began operating on the CMK line with trains reaching 200 km/h as a regularly scheduled operation. There is a plan by PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe to increase speed to 250 km/h on whole line soon. In the day of 13 December 2020 the speed limit was raised to 200 km/h also on the line from Warsaw to seaport Gdynia by New Pendolino train.

Sabotage

August 2023, a series of suspected sabotage events occurred. The "radio stop" command system has a vulnerability - when a certain three tonal signal is transmitted through the railway radio network, trains stop automatically. On August 25 at 9:23 pm on two sections of line near Szczecin a stop signal was broadcast by an unknown person. It affected more than 20 trains and freight traffic was stopped as a precaution. Services were restored within hours. The next day at 6pm near Gdynia a second incident took place - a freight train was also affected later that evening. On the 27th trains near Białystok were affected by fake stop signals. Five passenger trains and one freight train were stopped. Two men were arrested in connection with the disruption near Białystok. One suspect is a police officer. Prosecutors opened an investigation. On the 28th, Police in Białystok announced they had begun a dismissal procedure against the officer arrested on Sunday. Sixteen people have been arrested as suspects in spying for Russia.
The disruptions are being investigated both by police and intelligence organisations, including the Internal Security Agency.
Some of the disruptive signals included the Russian anthem and part of a speech by Vladimir Putin.

Corporate Subdivisions

PKP Intercity

PKP Intercity is a semi-independent division of PKP that operates long-distance passenger trains in Poland. It was founded in 2001 when, in preparation for separation between infrastructure management and transport operations, the Polish State Railways were reorganized into a number of independent operating companies under the unified direction of the PKP Group.
PKP Intercity operates all InterCity trains in Poland as well as most of the country's EuroCity services throughout Europe. Although competition is rising in the long-distance rail travel market in Poland, PKP Intercity still holds a de facto monopoly in the industry, as its current market share represents almost 100% of the segment.
PKP Intercity's trains currently operate under the following brands:
  • Express InterCity Premium - Pendolino high-speed trains
  • EuroCity : International trains which operate major routes and require a reservation
  • Express InterCity - introduced in 2009, as a result, the train category EX was phased out
  • InterCity - Intercity trains
  • Twoje Linie Kolejowe - Low cost, intercity trains
  • InterCityBus - Intercity coach services