In 2019, Poland’s intermodal railway market has recorded a 15% increase in the weight of transported goods, while the operational service rose by 14.5%. The freight railway operators transported 19.5 million tonnes of intermodal goods in 2019 and the transfer service amounted to 7.1 billion tonne-kilometres.
In the last three years, the railway freight operators carrying cargoes on Polish railway network have recorded annual increases, from 14.7 million tonnes of intermodal goods to 17 million tonnes in 2018, followed by the increase recorded last year.
The transfer service also recorded increase since 2017, from 5.4 billion tonne-kilometres, to 6.1 tonne-kilometres in 2018.
According to the Office of Rail Transport (UTK), the weight of goods transport of Poland’s intermodal railway market rose by 2.5 million tonnes, in comparison to 2018. The transfer service, on the other hand, increased by about 900 million tonne-kilometres.
In 2019 the railway operators transported a record number of freight units, reaching 2,137 million TEU. Last year, the rail freight transport has increased by 12.8%. As in previous years 20- and 40-foot containers were dominant in this kind of transport. Their share in 2019 amounted to 45.8% and 43.1% respectively. The intermodal transport was 96.4% mainly ensured by containerized services.
“Statistics show a possibility of further growth of intermodal transfers. Its share in the market amounted to 8.3% (mass) and 12.6% (transfer service). It clearly shows that the level of commercial exchange between East and West is rising,” said Ignacy Góra, the President of UTK.
As in the previous years, in 2019 PKP Cargo had the largest share in intermodal transport. Both in terms of weight and transport performance the operator leaded the market with a share of 44.1% and 49.1% respectively. However, the importance of other participants in this market segment is growing every year, UTK explains. Among other carriers, a significant share in terms of transported weight in intermodal transport in 2019 was recorded by Captrain Polska, PCC Intermodal, DB Cargo Polska and LTE Polska. Their total market share, taking into account the transported mass, amounted to 39%.
In 2019 the freight operators transported 236.4 million tonnes of goods, and transfer service amounted to 55.9 billion tonne-kilometres. These values were lower by 5.5% and 6.3% respectively in comparison to 2018. Coal, oil and natural gas were the most transported goods by rail in 2019. Those categories amounted to 38% of the weight of goods transported last year.
Share on:
