{"id":258710,"date":"2025-07-29T17:17:07","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T07:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=64607"},"modified":"2025-07-29T17:17:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T07:17:07","slug":"polish-train-drivers-are-blocking-roads-in-protest-against-anti-rail-policies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=258710","title":{"rendered":"Polish train drivers are blocking roads in protest against \u2018anti-rail policies\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>The rail freight industry in Poland is in shambles. Goods are moving back to trucks, and the country\u2019s main operator, PKP Cargo, will lay off thousands of workers amid a massive restructuring plan. As if this were not enough, train drivers have now stormed Polish roads in \u201ca nationwide protest against the government&#8217;s anti-rail policy\u201d.<\/strong><br \/>\n<span id=\"more-64607\"><\/span>The protest is organised by the Railway Drivers\u2019 Trade Union (ZZM), started yesterday and will continue until tomorrow. Protesters will be blocking 13 roads all over Poland, especially in the Katowice area, near the border with Czechia. \u201cThis is a response to years of systemic government neglect, culminating today in the dramatic situation at PKP Cargo and the deepening degradation of the entire rail freight sector\u201d, ZZM claimed.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"max-width: 100%; margin: 20px auto; border-radius: 6px; overflow: hidden; box-shadow: 0 2px 8px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);\">\n<div class=\"embed-container\" style=\"box-sizing:border-box;height:0;overflow:hidden;padding-bottom:56.25%;position:relative;width:100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"embed-content\" style=\"bottom:0;height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;right:0;top:0;width:100%;\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/video.php?height=316&amp;href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fmaszynisci.zzm%2Fvideos%2F717010227823056%2F&amp;show_text=false&amp;width=560&amp;t=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen scrolling=\"no\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; fullscreen; gyroscope\"><\/iframe><\/div><figcaption style=\"padding: 10px 15px; font-size: 14px; background: #f8f8f8; text-align: left; color: #555;\">Polish train drivers&#8217; union blocking a road in protest. Video: Facebook. \u00a9 Zwi\u0105zek Zawodowy Maszynist\u00f3w Kolejowych w Polsce<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Discrimination led to reverse modal shit<\/h2>\n<p>The trade union is lamenting the disparity between road and rail freight transport, accusing the government of adopting discriminating practices. \u201c90% of roads used for freight traffic remain free in Poland, while the railways pay some of the highest infrastructure access rates in Europe\u201d, the union underlined. This approach is damaging to the rail freight industry but also to the public interest, as more trucks are being deployed to transport goods usually put on trains.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrucks often carry incredibly heavy structural components, building materials, aggregates, and other goods for which rail would be the obvious default transport solution\u201d, ZZM pointed out. This means more pollution, more road congestion and less safe roads. The union is thus calling on the government to \u201ccome to its senses\u201d and finally reform its transport policy. Blocking the roads is not ZZM\u2019s first attempt at being heard, as they also recently picketed the office of the Polish ministry of infrastructure.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"readmore\">\n<div class=\"readmore-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/business\/2025\/07\/01\/lose-your-job-or-or-give-up-some-benefits-pkp-cargos-new-proposal-to-trade-unions\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/PKP-Cargo-2-e1732870893494-128x128.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"readmore-thumbnail\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"readmore-info\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/business\/2025\/07\/01\/lose-your-job-or-or-give-up-some-benefits-pkp-cargos-new-proposal-to-trade-unions\/\" class=\"readmore-title\">\u2018Lose your job or give up some benefits\u2019, PKP Cargo&#8217;s new proposal to trade unions<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<h2>PKP Cargo did not condemn the drivers<\/h2>\n<p>The main issue remains the situation with PKP Cargo. The Polish incumbent commenced a tough restructuring plan in 2024 after years of financial difficulties. Its market share has been decreasing both to competitors but especially the road, causing a reverse modal shift. The restructuring also comes with painful consequences for the workforce, with around 2,000 layoffs planned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday, PKP Cargo stands on the brink of final paralysis due to the government&#8217;s pathological policies\u201d, ZZM said. For its part, the company has not taken a stand against the protests launched by its employees, quite the contrary. \u201cIt&#8217;s hard to argue with the facts, and they are that a large portion of transport has shifted from rail to road\u201d, PKP Cargo said in a statement, highlighting a decade of neglect which led to this extreme situation.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"readmore\">\n<div class=\"readmore-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/business\/2025\/06\/02\/pkp-cargo-sees-restructuring-results-cuts-losses-by-more-than-half\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/PKP-Cargo-hq--e1748856662318-128x128.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"readmore-thumbnail\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"readmore-info\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/business\/2025\/06\/02\/pkp-cargo-sees-restructuring-results-cuts-losses-by-more-than-half\/\" class=\"readmore-title\">PKP Cargo sees restructuring results, cuts losses by more than half<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The rail freight industry in Poland is in shambles. Goods are moving back to trucks, and the country\u2019s main operator, PKP Cargo, will lay off\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11313,8079,2832,47,17581,17582],"tags":[12634],"class_list":["post-258710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-depth","category-pkp-cargo","category-poland","category-rail-news","category-zwiazek-zawodowy-maszynistow-kolejowych","category-zzm","tag-railfreight"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=258710"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":259240,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258710\/revisions\/259240"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=258710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=258710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=258710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}