All aboard PKP InterCity's newly refurbished carriages

The bank is to loan the rail operator zł.50 million that will be spent on modernizing 25 carriages. "A new carriage costs zł.4 million while refurbishing one costs only zł.1.5 million. The result is practically the same, so we decided to modernize," said Jacek Prześluga, PKP InterCity's president. Five of the carriages are restaurant cars, nine of them include compartments for managers (four-seat compartments where tickets cost zł.200 and include a breakfast or lunch and free newspapers). "The compartments for managers are very popular. In December alone they were used by 2,000 people," stated Prześluga. The value of PKP InterCity's investments scheduled for 2006 total zł.117 million and encompass the purchase of two more conference cars. In 2005 the company invested zł.100 million. "We carried 9.6 million passengers [in 2005]. This year we project this number to increase to 10.5 million. Our revenues are set to grow from zł.890 million to zł.977 million. I estimate that net profits shall reach zł.4.9 million," said Prześluga. (Puls Biznesu, p. 6) D.W.