Inter-voivodeship railroad routes as a result of the process of regionalisation of passenger rail transport – the example of Poland

The increasing role of rail transport in passenger mobility has become the focal point of transport policy in Poland in recent years. Organisational reforms of the Polish transport system have led to the transfer of responsibility for regional passenger rail transport to provincial governments. In addition to the carrier originating from the PKP group (PolRegio), local railway companies (e.g., Koleje Dolnośląskie, Łódzka Kolej Aglom-eracyjna) are becoming increasingly important and are gaining an increasing share of the rail transport market. The administrative border of a voivodeship should not be a limitation in creating a transport offer. The public transport system should be based on real function-ing connections. The analysis concerns all active inter-voivodeship routes in Poland – adopting a comprehensive approach that includes the whole country, not just selected sec-tions. The main objective of the study is to assess their functioning within passenger con-nections in the context of multilocation travel. A total of 91 routes were identified. The study covers the following characteristics: status in passenger traffic service, categories of trains running, transport offer, road speed, electrification, and date of suspension of passenger traffic. The main conclusions include: [1] there is a strong variation in the number of trains on individual routes, [2] the degree of cooperation between individual provincial govern-ments is uneven, [3] the regionalisation processes carried out in Poland in the passenger transport sector have influenced the emergence of contact connections at internal borders, [4] the regional railway line in many cases constitutes an important transport link (with only a limited role or even absence of bus/coach transport). The study could form the basis for further analysis in terms of network links, assessment of the relevance of reactivating (and operating) defunct rail routes, and strategic planning for the operation of rail routes contained in planning documents. An extended analysis could additionally help mitigate the negative effects of transport exclusion. The analysis aims to demonstrate the impact of administrative and legal changes in rail transportation systems on current transportation links. The study refers to Polish reality as a case study of a Central European country, but the research problem is universal, and the conclusions and recommendations developed can be applied to other transport systems undergoing change and transformation.