The Polish economy is rebounding faster than most of the rest of the EU, infrastructure projects are seemingly in place, and rail volumes have been relatively stable during the past couple of years. Despite that, the overall picture for Polish rail freight is not positive. “We haven’t been achieving any substantial progress in the market share of rail freight; on the contrary, we are decreasing,” emphasised Maciej Gładyga, managing director of the Polish Chamber of Commerce for Land Transport (IGTL).
Gładyga discussed the situation characterising the Polish rail logistics sector during the RailFreight Summit ‘24 in Warsaw between 15 and 17 April. In his view, Poland has spent billions of euros in investment, yet the rail sector is still bleeding out volumes to road transport and seeing its market share steadily decrease.
According to Gładyga, “There is an appetite for investments as well as clear declarations from the government concerning the priority and economic justification for the investments, which was not the case in the past.”
“Maybe this is why some new entrants see the potential in developing within the Polish market, especially with new intermodal or combined transport services. But for me, we are still nowhere near the ideal situation for, let’s say, generic development of this sector,” he added.
Lack of flexible pre-financing
Gładyga delved into the issue of rail financing in Poland, explaining that a majority of rail investments in the country are funded through EU mechanisms. This leads to a situation where the market experiences a sudden influx of investments when EU funds are released, followed by a period of ‘investment drought’ until more EU money becomes available. This situation often results in “absurd investments” that do not bring value to rail logistics.
“So, the Polish market basically needs stability. This is the main thing,” stressed Gładyga. A predictable and flexible pre-financing instrument is key to reach this stability that will provide space for growth. “We are not inventing the wheel here,” he continued. Copying the Polish mechanism of national road funds into the railroad fund can be an effective solution, considering that the “road fund is functioning quite well and is a perfectly tested solution.”
This is not even about providing the same level of funds to rail and road transport. “Does the government want to give 300 million euros to the roads and 80 million euros to rail? That’s fine. But it should give the money in the same manner, via the same mechanism. So we don’t have to wait till, for example, the EU fund program is adopted,” emphasised Gładyga.
