Poland is considering implementing a surcharge for rail freight. A study commissioned by infrastructure manager PKP PLK concluded that a track access charge markup of a couple of percentage points would not lead to a reverse modal shift.
The Polish infrastructure manager PKP PLK is looking for ways to generate more income from track access charges (TACs). The EU and Poland allow the infrastructure manager to add a TAC mark-up to recover its full costs. However it is legally obliged to conduct a research to find out how many costs the market can carry without losing customers.
A study by SGH Warsaw School of Economics has now determined the maximum mark-up that PKP PLK can implement: 4.60 Polish złoty (€1.04) per train-kilometre. This should not lead to a loss of customers to the road sector, according to SGH.
The rate would apply to freight trains with a gross weight of 660 tonnes in the bulk and conventional segments. Intermodal would be exempt, because its demand is considered to be less rigid than in the former two. In other words, intermodal loses customers when TACs (and consequently, customer prices) rise.
Added cost estimates
Trains under 660 tonnes should be exempt from the surcharge, according to the SGH study. The goal is to protect small, dispersed or new flows. These are areas where rail competes weakest against trucks. Over 660 tonnes, all bulk and conventional freight trains should be treated the same in the SGH model. The charge is applied per train-kilometre in order to prevent penalising heavier and longer trains.
The 4.60 Polish złoty per train-kilometre mark-up would close the gap between the projected 2027/2028 rate and the peak average 2012/2013 rate. If implemented, a 500-kilometre train run would pay up to 2,300 złoty (€522.30) extra. In an SGH example trip, a 1,067-tonne train driving a 113-kilometre round-trip would pay about 1,103 złoty (€250) more. This corresponds to a total cost rise of roughly 5%.
All of this does not yet mean that Poland will implement a 4.60 Polish złoty per train-kilometre mark-up. First, PKP PLK will have to determine which mark-up it wants to propose, up to the aforementioned 4.60 Polish złoty per train-kilometre. The actual figure will depend on how much revenue the infrastructure manager wants to add, as well as how many train-kilometres the affected trains are planned to run.
After that, the president of Poland’s Office for Rail Transport (UTK) will have to approve it. SGH recommends an earliest start date for the surcharge of 2027/2028.
Possible critique
The idea that bulk and conventional freight can deal with higher track access charges has been heard (and criticised) before. For example, the German infrastructure manager DB InfraGO proposed new charges that would grow the costs for heavy freight and dangerous goods by 84.8% and 63.5% respectively between 2027 and 2028. The logic here was the same: customers in these segments will not be quick to switch to road transportation.
The German rail freight association Die Güterbahnen argued against that view. “The alarm bells couldn’t ring louder for a reform of track access charges”, commented Senior Consultant at Die Güterbahnen Oliver Smock. “A country fighting for its industry can no longer afford to ignore this reform. If transporting chemicals, construction materials, and steel by rail becomes unaffordable, not only will goods be shifted to the roads, but added value and jobs will also migrate abroad.”
