Interview with Polish State Railways, PKP
Mr. Bogdan Waligorski, Member of Management Board - Director for property control and immovables
Mr. Marian Lukasiak, Director of PKP S. A. Headquarte - Strategy and Development Office
2 juillet 2004
Polish State Railways like the other European Railway companies are concerned by the liberalisation of passenger transport which will take place in 2010. Concerning freight the European legislation has set 2007 as the date when each European railway company must give full access to its network to the other countries of the EU. However some new members of the EU like Poland can benefit of a transitional period to adapt themselves to this new situation. That is why Polish State Railways will use these years of protection time as an asset to become more competitive in this field. In 2010 PKP will have to face competition from other companies.
PKP is now getting prepared for this revolution by fulfilling the directive 440/91 and by restructuring its company, lowering the costs to become more competitive and launching particular programs. Some companies within the PKP Group in passenger transport for example like PKP Fast Regional Rail in Tri-City Ltd or PKP Warsaw Commuter Rail Ltd might be privatised in two or three years.
The greatest problem of PKP is certainly the debts from the past that it did not get rid of. This situation does not help PKP in its fight against the competition of the road. In fact most of the people from the new EU countries prefer to travel by individual transport, by car, than by using collective transport like the train. The car seems to be cheaper and allows more freedom than the train.
The objectives of PKP are first to find a financial solution to its debt problem by adopting for example a formula of public-private partnership, second to fulfil the European directives and to integrate the European legislation and third to adapt itself to the market so that it could remain competitive. This is an enormous challenge that PKP is facing step by step.
One example of the dynamic action of PKP is the creation of SUW 2000 which permits all trains to cross the borders of Europe without problems and loss of time and to connect the European system with the Euro-Asiatic system. It can be used either for freight, or for passenger railway transport.
As we know, the rail gauge is not the same everywhere in Europe. If most of European countries have a gauge of 1435 millimetres, in Spain and in Portugal the rule is 1668 mm and it is 1520 mm in Russia. The SUW 2000 adjustable rail-gauge wheel set was constructed for use on the tracks of gauges 1435mm, 1520mm, and 1668mm. The change of rail gauge is executed while the train moves along the rail gauge change stand and the wheels are automatically adjusted to the required track gauge. From a social and economic point of view, the Polish system SUW 2000 has a special and important role to play in relation with Russia, Ukraine and Lithuania. This system might become a great asset for PKP and for the European railway network.