PKP must cut back on staff and network, Japanese claim

The Agency also advised repayment of the company's debts, the reshaping of the administration and the modernization of the infrastructure. The overall cost of the modernization to be borne until 2010 is estimated at zł.7 billion. The deputy Infrastructure Minister Maciej Leśny said he has not considered mass reductions thus far, yet admitted that the optimal length of the track is some 13,000 kilometers rather than the 23,500 currently being serviced. The government also hopes to reduce PKP's debts from zł.10 billion to zł.4 billion within two years and eventually privatize the company. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 17) M.K.