History Polish State Railways

pkp s pm36 locomotive won gold medal @ 1937 international exposition of art , technology in paris



a steam engine of warsaw–terespol railway, 1866

gaining independence on 11 november 1918 allowed poland reclaim former russian , austrian sectors military railways. railway department in ministry of communication created , polish railways officially named polskie koleje państwowe.

in december 1918, great poland uprising started. rebels took on former prussian sector of railways. 1 year later, fights lviv on , former austrian railway directorate taken on poland. taking on railways prussians lasted until 1921.

after victory on red army in polish-bolshevik war (1920), great deal of damage in railway structure discovered on route along communists retreating. @ same time, tense relations lithuania led railways around vilnius , minsk partial disintegration , stagnation. libau–romny railway not recovered.

polish railways administration took on railways in upper silesia in 1922. same year, decision made divide railways in poland 9 administrative districts.

an economic crisis in 1930s forced state cut budget railway investment. profit decreased 50% compared 1929. next year, on 23,000 pkp employees had been dismissed , protests , strikes causes authorities try find solution. end of crisis , increase of cargo transport , income came in 1937.

on 1 september 1939, railwaymen of szymankowo stopped german armoured train before arrival on bridge on vistula river , polish soldiers reattached explosive charges disconnected german dive bombers , blew bridge. railwaymen , of innocent family members executed germans same day, 1 september 1939. after soviet invasion of eastern poland on 17 september 1939, polish rolling stock fell soviet hands.

gdańsk główny 1 of poland s largest category stations.

the polish railways in silesia, wielkopolska , pomorze adopted german railways deutsche reichsbahn on 25 september.

until last moment before german attack on soviet union in 1941, cargo trains transported goods soviet union germany. beginning of german attacks on soviet union on 22 june 1941 resulted in possession of railway , rolling stock ostbahn (de) , possession of pkp rolling stock broad gauge track , reconstruction standard gauge. beginning of organized sabotage polish resistance movement on railways took place same time.

pkp headquarters in wrocław

in 1942, production of simple military-use dr kriegslok br52 (pkp class ty2) steam locomotives began in poznań , chrzanów; steam boilers these locomotives produced in sosnowiec.

the warsaw uprising caused widespread damage of warsaw rolling stock, network , electric traction; both bridges on vistula river , underground tunnel on warsaw cross-city line destroyed. @ beginning of 1945, ministry of transport created, regional directorate of national railways. many pre-war locomotives sent soviet union. poland received many german locomotives compensation war losses. in june, rail connection warsaw opened, using temporary railway station made of warehouses. on 15 september 1945, pkp took on management of railway lines on new polish territory soviet union. of these lines either destroyed or inaccessible. railways in country divided ten districts.

information board of polish pkp intercity train berlin gdynia through gdańsk

during mid-to-late communist era, state of polish railways deteriorated large extent. once large , profitable network, systemic lack of funding , failure acquire new rolling stock left pkp far behind railway operators of western europe in terms of technical advances , passenger comfort. in addition this, poor state of many rail lines throughout country led ever-increasing journey times passengers, , result left railways far less able compete intercity bus , air services. during entire communist period, 1 major infrastructural project relating railways completed. this, central trunk line, prestige project completed in 1976, intended both heavy coal transport , fast passenger services. line first time allowed passengers travel in comfort , @ relatively high speed kraków , katowice warsaw; however, high-speed services have never started, although test runs reached 250 km/h in 1994. moreover, despite successful completion of section southern central poland, planned extension gdańsk , country s baltic ports never realised, , curtailed both usefulness , potential of line.

since poland s return liberal democracy in 1990s, polish state railways have faced ever increasing competition private automotive transport , country s rapidly expanding network of motorways , express roads. however, ever decreasing journey times, better schedules allow well-coordinated connections, rise of private operators , large-scale investment in infrastructure new rolling stock enticing people onto railways.