Regionalizacja jako czynnik zmian w ofercie przewozowej kolei w Polsce na przykładzie czterech województw
Regionalisation as a factor of changes in Polish rail transport offer: an example of four voivodeships

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to determine the influence of the transformation of Polish railways on the functioning of regional railways in the country and on their role in transport systems of the selected voivodeships. The rail reforms launched at the end of the 20th century which derived mainly from EU regulations resulted inter alia in the transfer of responsibility for regional rail transport to regional governments and in the long run they induced large scale changes in the ownership. The paper analyses the changes in the regional railway services of four selected voivodeships: Dolnośląskie, Kujawsko-pomorskie, Małopolskie and Podlaskie between 2005 and 2017. For the chosen voivodeships the authors analysed the number of open railway stations and stops of regional trains on them itemising the number of direct trains to the capital of the region and to the capitals of the neighbouring regions. The result of the survey is that the organisational and ownership transformations of Polish railways have caused fundamental changes in the functioning of regional railways in the country. Diverse trends in railway development can be observed in several voivodeships which results in increasing spatial differences in regional railway functioning over Polish regions. There are many factors which influence increase or decrease in the role of rail in regional transport systems. One of the most important of them are railway subvention levels and the general interest of regional governments for railway transport the reflection of which are initiatives aimed at improving the situation of the railways. Creating the own regional government-owned railway companies as well as opening the market for external railway carriers is certainly an important but not sole factor of this improvement.

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