The Polish Office of Rail Transport (UTK) published the results of a survey it ran among dozens of industry players. The main takeaway is that a large part of the sector is not satisfied with the current conditions, with various causes behind this sentiment.
For example, there were six internal factors that were identified as obstacles to the development of rail freight by more than one third of the respondents. The main issues concern the (un)availability of terminals and rail paths and the uncompetitive prices.
When it comes to external factors, four were identified as problematic by a significant number of people. The insufficient role of rail in the national transport strategy and strong competition from other modes were, by far, the main ones. Some of the solutions suggested included better measures for train punctuality and higher subsidies for investments.
The state of Polish rail freight
Poland is one of the largest users of rail freight in Europe, but the market is far from thriving. The incumbent and main operator PKP Cargo is slowly getting out of a quasi-bankruptcy through a tough restructuring that is impacting the whole sector. On the other hand, intermodal transport is on the rise, albeit moving much lower volumes.