Freight rail in Poland is losing market share

According to Adrian Furgalski, chairman of the Railway Business Forum, the situation in the cargo segment is serious and requires an urgent government recovery plan. He notes that Polish rail freight remains too heavily dependent on bulk commodities, especially coal, whose importance is rapidly declining.

Data from the Office of Rail Transport (UTK) shows that in the first three quarters of this year, rail operators moved 160.6 million tonnes of cargo, down 3.6 percent year-on-year. At the same time, passenger rail achieved strong growth, serving over 323 million travellers. September did bring a slight uptick in freight volumes, but regulators stress that several more months of consistent improvement are needed before any lasting rebound can be confirmed.

Infrastructure is improving: the number of so-called bottlenecks has dropped from 7,000 in 2004 to around 1,700 today, and the upgrade of the Nadodrzańska line is expected to increase freight train speeds to 100 km/h. However, the industry warns that without expanding intermodal terminals, loading points and sidings, it will be impossible to grow rail’s share of the transport market. Many regions still lack terminals, which limits the development of container transport and shifts cargo to roads.

Industry organisations are calling for the implementation of the “Five Priorities for Rail Freight”, which include systemic support for siding construction, terminal development and the creation of dedicated freight corridors. Experts remind that Poland has committed to shifting 30 percent of freight travelling over 300 km to rail by 2030 and 50 percent by 2050. They argue that levelling the competitive playing field with road transport requires reducing track access charges—potentially by 30–50 percent—and maintaining discounts for intermodal services.