Zmiany w taborze polskich przewoźników kolejowych w segmencie lokomotyw po przystąpieniu do Unii Europejskiej
Changes to the rolling stock in the locomotive sector of Polish railway operators after accession to the European Union

Summary/Abstract: Several trends occurred simultaneously on the rail transport market in Poland after accession to theEuropean Union: a decline in the share of rail in favour of roads, a gradual improvement in the condition ofrailway infrastructure, the implementation of interoperability and the gradual liberalisation of the freightmarket. The effect of liberalisation has been an increase in the share of private operators at the expense of thePKP group. There is a lack of synthetic and comparative studies on rolling stock in the literature, especiallyin the context of operators’ needs. The aim of the research is to compare the rolling stock fleets of passengerand freight operators in Poland in the segment of mainline electric and diesel locomotives in the period afterPoland’s accession to the European Union. The research background is the transformation in the passenger andfreight transport market, and the resulting demand for new rolling stock. The application objective is to pro‑vide recommendations for the Polish rolling stock market. The primary research method was data researchbased on publicly available source materials from both manufacturers and users, supported by statistical datafrom official resources (e.g. the Central Statistical Office and Rail Transport Office), while the rolling stockdatabases maintained by railway enthusiasts were also included. Data analysis has shown that in the dataof the Central Statistical and Rail Transport Offices there are significant differences between the numbers ofdiesel and electric locomotives in the stocks of operators. In the case of passenger operators, the market wasalmost exclusively limited to locomotives for long­ ‑distance traffic, as regional and agglomeration transportwas taken up by electric and diesel multiple units for cost and operational reasons. The demand for electricand diesel locomotives from operators outside the PKP group was initially met by importing used rollingstock from other EU countries. With the development of operators and the Polish market for rolling stockmanufacturers, the purchase and leasing of new locomotives, operationally adapted to the needs of operators,is becoming increasingly important. The emergence of bi­ ‑powered locomotives, i.e. electric with an additionaldiesel engine, is significant. Competition in the electric locomotive manufacturing market translates into thewide availability of different designs, meeting the differing needs of operators. There has been a noticeableshortage of new designs in the segment of mainline diesel locomotives.

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