Railway splits into three cos.
While investors said the move will make Poland's railway one of the most radical in Europe, they warned that private passenger services are still a long way off.
Under the plan, PKP will split into a passenger train operator, freight train operator and infrastructure owner. The move is designed to prepare PKP for privatization and at the same time accommodate private train operators who will be allowed to enter the Polish market under a separate law passed last year, said Krzysztof Celinski, head of the Transport Ministry's railway department.
These new companies' operations will be put in the hands of Poland's redrawn voivodships in the year 2000 or 2001, Celinski said.
The restructuring is designed to increase management control and decrease government subsidies, he said. The plan must first be approved by the railway's supervisory board.
"When (PKP) is finally decentralized, private investors will be very interested in entering the passenger market," Celinski said.
Since these reforms will bring Poland's railway ahead of those in many Western European countries, interest is likely to grow steadily as the government's plans for PKP take effect, agreed Richard Cottrell, development director for UK-based Eurobus.
"A compliment to Poland. At least they've started grappling with this problem," Cottrell said. "But these things do not change overnight."
Even if PKP follows all the steps necessary to attract investment, it may not be bombarded with investment offers at first, said Hans Koppen, assistant director in project finance at Berliner Bank Polska.
"PKP will have to learn that for some segments there will be high bidding, for others there will be low bidding," Koppen said.
Likely the first railway investors will be interested in PKP's freight operations, while larger investors may go for long distance passenger traffic, Koppen said.
"There is a future for freight railways if they're cleverly managed," Koppen said, adding that private passenger trains will be slower to develop. "These require high investments. They might not come immediately."
"What you need is a lot of money, and don't expect to get it all back next week," agreed Eurobus's Cottrell, adding that longer, intercity routes would be more expensive to pick up.
Eurobus, which is actively looking for transport deals on the Polish market, has already done preliminary assessments on passenger traffic between Gdansk and Gdynia, Cottrell said.
"This could be turned into a money maker fairly quickly," Cottrell said. "The whole thing needs a thorough reorganization."
If a private company such as Eurobus were to come in, such a route would be little changed in the short term, Cottrell said. But in the medium term new trains would increase the speed and comfort of the route, he said.
Under the plan, PKP will split into a passenger train operator, freight train operator and infrastructure owner. The move is designed to prepare PKP for privatization and at the same time accommodate private train operators who will be allowed to enter the Polish market under a separate law passed last year, said Krzysztof Celinski, head of the Transport Ministry's railway department.
These new companies' operations will be put in the hands of Poland's redrawn voivodships in the year 2000 or 2001, Celinski said.
The restructuring is designed to increase management control and decrease government subsidies, he said. The plan must first be approved by the railway's supervisory board.
"When (PKP) is finally decentralized, private investors will be very interested in entering the passenger market," Celinski said.
Since these reforms will bring Poland's railway ahead of those in many Western European countries, interest is likely to grow steadily as the government's plans for PKP take effect, agreed Richard Cottrell, development director for UK-based Eurobus.
"A compliment to Poland. At least they've started grappling with this problem," Cottrell said. "But these things do not change overnight."
Even if PKP follows all the steps necessary to attract investment, it may not be bombarded with investment offers at first, said Hans Koppen, assistant director in project finance at Berliner Bank Polska.
"PKP will have to learn that for some segments there will be high bidding, for others there will be low bidding," Koppen said.
Likely the first railway investors will be interested in PKP's freight operations, while larger investors may go for long distance passenger traffic, Koppen said.
"There is a future for freight railways if they're cleverly managed," Koppen said, adding that private passenger trains will be slower to develop. "These require high investments. They might not come immediately."
"What you need is a lot of money, and don't expect to get it all back next week," agreed Eurobus's Cottrell, adding that longer, intercity routes would be more expensive to pick up.
Eurobus, which is actively looking for transport deals on the Polish market, has already done preliminary assessments on passenger traffic between Gdansk and Gdynia, Cottrell said.
"This could be turned into a money maker fairly quickly," Cottrell said. "The whole thing needs a thorough reorganization."
If a private company such as Eurobus were to come in, such a route would be little changed in the short term, Cottrell said. But in the medium term new trains would increase the speed and comfort of the route, he said.
