The article participated in the 3rd edition of the “Piórem Logistyka” Competition.
III. The role of PKP CARGO SA in the development of ecological forms of transport
PKP CARGO, as the largest rail freight carrier, having taken into account the ongoing changes in the TSL (Transport-Spedition-Logistics) services market, realized the necessity of changes in terms of the transport means owned, transport technologies, principles and scope of services provided, as well as their quality. The strategy of cooperation between PKP CARGO SA and other entities also includes undertaking various types of investment and modernization projects aimed at jointly creating the conditions necessary to acquire additional freight volume.
Therefore, such an important issue for the company is, among other things, the creation of a network of logistics centers and transport concentration stations, in which ecological rail transport will play a fundamental role. In this way, Poland can become part of the European network of logistics centers, which have been developing in highly developed countries for a long time.
To achieve these goals, procedures related to determining the needs and possibilities of creating logistics centers based on PKP SA assets were launched. As part of these projects, transport volumes to agglomerations with the highest industrialization and investment prospects were analyzed, as well as the structure of these transports, taking into account both dispatch and arrival, as well as forecasted transport for subsequent years and customer expectations towards PKP CARGO SA. On this basis, an initial selection of potential locations for logistics centers was made, guided by the suitability of the area for current and proposed commercial functions, its current use and planned development by the railway, the infrastructure of the indicated site, and spatial development plans prepared by local government administration. These are the following locations: Gliwice, Poznań, Małaszewicze, Wrocław, Warsaw. PKP CARGO SA also supports the idea of creating logistics centers in Sławków, Szczecin, and in one of the Tri-City cities, i.e., Gdynia or Gdańsk, but these centers will essentially be built on land not belonging to PKP SA.
PKP CARGO SA intends to start the construction of logistics centers by building new container terminals or by expanding and modernizing existing ones. Logistics centers are not only efficient, fast, and modern technology for moving cargo while taking into account the environmental protection factor. Their construction consequently brings many positive economic effects of a local, regional, and national nature.