Due to the ever-present threat of road blockades by Polish farmers at the border with Ukraine, many shippers are still choosing the railways to move their cargo between the two countries. Trains crossing Polish-Ukrainian borders have increased by 20 per cent in the first 10 months of 2024, compared to the same period last year, according to PKP LHS.
PKP LHS also recorded significant growth in the intermodal segment in the first six months of this year. During this time, import intermodal services rose by 101.35 per cent, while for exports the growth was over 50 per cent. Similar numbers were confirmed by logistics companies such as PCC Intermodal and Laude Smart Intermodal, as reported by Polish media Rzeczpospolita.
The increase in rail freight between the two countries was largely caused by a modal shift to rail, as the number of import trucks entering Poland dropped by 35.4 per cent and import ones fell by 28.9 per cent. This was one of the main consequences of the various road blockades carried out by Polish farmers in protest against the European Union, especially in the first half of the year. These blockades lead to much longer waiting times for trucks at the borders, pushing shippers to turn to the railways for more efficient solutions.
Rail border checks need to improve
However, there is still room for improvement when it comes to border checks at rail border crossings. One of the main issues is staff shortages in the border services sector, but some technical problems also contribute to sometimes impaired services. It also seems that moving border checks to ports or other locations away from the actual border crossing is not on the table in Poland. Once these issues are resolved, the Polish sector seems to agree that rail freight between Ukraine and Poland will grow even further.