Przeszłość, teraźniejszość i przyszłość transportu kolejowego w Polsce. Uwarunkowania prawne i społeczno-gospodarcze

<jats:p>Past, present and future of the rail transport in Poland. Legal and socio-economic conditions Given the key importance of rail transport for maintaining critical social or economic activity on a macro scale, actions aimed at strengthening the interoperability and modernisation of the rail system, implementing the concept of sustainable transport development or intermodality of transport services should be welcomed. The issues raised in this publication encourage reflection on the current situation in the rail transport services sector. There is no doubt that rail is one of the most popular means of transport for both people and goods. In the case of domestic transport, significant changes of an organisational, structural and technological nature took place almost 25 years ago. The breakthrough was the implementation of the Act of 8th of September 2000 on the commercialisation, restructuring and privatisation of the state-owned enterprise &amp;ldquo;Polish State Railways&amp;rdquo; (subsequently: the Act of 8th of September 2000 on the commercialisation and restructuring of the state-owned enterprise &amp;ldquo;Polish State Railways&amp;rdquo;, polish abbreviation: PKP). The strategic goals assumed not only strengthening the position (competitiveness) on the transport services market and improving the quality of transport but also the functioning of the internal structures of PKP. Therefore, it was decided to take action in the field of privatization, commercialization and restructuring. This led to the separation of management activities (railway infrastructure management) from transport activities (railway passenger and freight transport), and also gradually to the increasing fragmentation of PKP structures, which was to ensure a certain specialization of services. Unquestionably, political and socio-economic factors continue to play a huge role in shaping the activities of the rail transport sector. In this case, it is not only about modernization issues, but primarily legal and organizational ones. A special role is assigned to EU law regulations, including in the field of sustainable transport development or, in recent years, cybersecurity. Despite numerous legislative efforts, the condition of rail transport in the Republic of Poland is not fully satisfactory. The above is the result of a certain restructuring chaos, not always the right decisions made by entities directly managing companies and underfinancing of the transport services sector. The topic discussed in the publication is of theoretical and practical importance, it is extremely current, due to the current situation of the key entity of PKP S.A. &amp;ndash; PKP CARGO S.A. &amp;ndash; one of the largest rail freight operators in Europe, for which the so-called restructuring procedure was implemented in 2024. The work takes into account the legal status as 10th of September 2024.</jats:p>