Polish State Railworks faces internal conflict as PKP vice president Dariusz Grajda, backed by PSL, blocks railway competition amid growing market rivalry.
Railway Competition in Poland
Thanks to additional carriers entering Polish tracks, travelers have increasingly more options and lower prices. PKP authorities, however, are attempting to halt this market competition.
PKP’s Attempt to Limit Competition
In recent times, PKP company vice president Dariusz Grajda has been particularly active in this matter. This former Koleje Mazowieckies deputy head is also a member of Polish Stronnictwo Ludowego, serving as a county councilor from 2002-2024. Minister of Infrastructure Dariusz Klimczak is also a PSL member.
Grajda’s Opposition to Competition
Grajda has opposed competition in various writings. In autumn, he criticized PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe for allegedly allocating favorable departure hours to the Czech company RegioJet.
RegioJet Schedule Criticism
According to the vice president, RegioJet trains on the Warsaw-Kraków route would run at similar times as PKP Intercity trains. “Such a distribution of connections does not promote real growth in passenger numbers in the communication corridor. In practice, it only leads to shifting some travelers from PKP Intercity trains to the private Czech carrier, without creating real competition in terms of quality or diversity of services,” wrote Grajda.
Infrastructure Capacity Concerns
During a meeting of the parliamentary infrastructure committee, Deputy Minister Piotr Malepszak explained that with limited capacity on the renovated Warsaw-Kraków line, PKP PLK must pack long-distance traffic with short intervals when constructing timetables. Otherwise, regional traffic would not fit.
