{"id":457026,"date":"2026-06-18T23:26:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T13:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=71884"},"modified":"2026-06-18T23:26:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T13:26:34","slug":"freight-left-out-of-polands-massive-rail-infrastructure-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=457026","title":{"rendered":"Freight left out of Poland\u2019s massive rail infrastructure plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Poland is embarking on a major rail infrastructure expansion project. With 4,700 kilometres of new tracks, 19 mainlines will connect the various regions of Poland in the long-term. Investments in rail infrastructure are more than welcome, but freight is disappointingly absent from Poland\u2019s plans.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>The plan, named \u2018Integrated Railway Network\u2019 (ZSK), will not be implemented overnight. “Thanks to the ZSK, we have a plan for the development of the Polish railway network\u201d, commented Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Piotr Malepszak. \u201cAs with the construction of a network of expressways, long-term implementation of rail infrastructure development plans is necessary. This is a plan for many decades, but with priorities defined today\u201d.<\/p>\n

Around 1,000 of the 4,700 new tracks should be built by 2035, according to the Polish infrastructure ministry. Among the new infrastructure, 2,700 kilometres will be high-speed railways. This already hints at the passenger-centric approach, since high speed rail infrastructure is of little to no use for the freight business.<\/p>\n

Poland requires hundreds of billions of euros in defence, energy and transport investments in the coming decades, a market source tells RailFreight.com. In that sense, ZSK is a welcome plan, but \u201cthe devil is in the details\u201d, the source, who wished to remain anonymous, says. \u201cPlans must be realistic and optimised.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A PKP Cargo train operating in Poland. Image: \u00a9 PKP Cargo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Low density passenger lines instead of key industrial zones<\/h2>\n

The source questions the value of some of Poland\u2019s plans. Some of the most industrial areas in the country are omitted from ZSK, such as Radom, Ostrowiec, Tarnobrzeg and Rzeszow.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we plan to spend 10-20 billion euros on a high-speed railway in a sparsely populated area just to connect two cities, or if we are doubling existing top-parameter lines between major cities, will we have resources for more conventional lines which the freight industry needs?\u201d<\/p>\n

That seems to be a useful question to ask. The entire project has a budget of 610 billion Polish zloty, according to Polish publication Gazeta. That sum equates to around 143 billion euros, so there is more to spend than 10-20 billion. Still, freight remains absent from public communications about the ZSK.<\/p>\n

ZSK was set up in close cooperation and consultation with the Polish regions, according to Deputy Infrastructure Minister Maciej Lasek. This is disputed by our market source. Yes, there were pre-consultations or brainstorming sessions about the needs of communities and freight, but they were not consulted on the presented plan at all: neither the freight industry, nor the regional governments were involved, says our source.<\/p>\n