A new phase in the development of railways has begun in Europe. For the past year and a half, railway monopolies have been liberalized, and railway carriers can use the railway infrastructure of Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Austria, and the UK in a non-discriminatory manner. Some railway networks (France, Spain) are still defending themselves against the “invasion” of foreign carriers under pressure from trade unions, which, however, also means “defending” against an increase in traffic on the railway network, as this is the economic effect that the current European Union policy regarding rail transport is intended to bring. Will it be possible to abolish the monopoly in this industry, which is harmful to the public interest, in Poland, and when?
Opening the rail transport market to free competition is one of the priorities of the European Union’s policy, which seeks to create a single transport system from the fragmented railway systems of individual countries, serving to build a fully unified market and make the European economy the most competitive in the world. The Union’s policy in this regard is implemented through specific directives – providing, among other things, for full freedom of access for carriers to infrastructure. This means that every licensed operator will be able to conduct business in the territory of any European Union member state.
According to the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, full liberalization of the rail freight market did not occur on the date of Poland’s accession to the EU, and the position of
PKP
Cargo in this market did not change significantly. In our country, the negotiated transition periods will only end at the beginning of 2007, when regulations preventing the blocking of carriers from other EU countries will come into force, and foreign entities will be able to enter the Polish rail transport market without restrictions.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” no. 2/2005.