Market Size of Poland Rail Freight Transport Industry
| Study Period | 2020 - 2029 |
| Base Year For Estimation | 2023 |
| Forecast Data Period | 2024 - 2029 |
| Historical Data Period | 2020 - 2022 |
| CAGR | > 4.50 % |
| Market Concentration | Low |
Major Players
*Disclaimer: Major Players sorted in no particular order |
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Poland Rail Freight Transport Market Analysis
The size of the Poland Rail Freight Transport Market is valued at around USD 1.55 billion in the current year and is anticipated to register a CAGR of over 4.5% during the forecast period. The market is driven by the huge volume of rail freight in the country. Furthermore, the market is driven by increasing cross-border trade.
- Poland is the second-largest rail freight market in the EU. The German rail freight market continued to be the largest with 108 billion tkm in 2020. The Polish rail freight market accounted for 52 billion tkm and was at the same mark as in 2004 and 2008. Practically the only segment of rail freight in the volume increased is container transport. Significant growth was seen in the volume of rail container transport, reaching 2.7 million TEU in 2020.
- Poland was the second largest contributor to the rail freight transport performance in the EU after Germany, with 54 billion tkm in 2021, which was followed by France with 36 billion tkm. In mid-June 2021, 41 public-service rail-road terminals operated in Poland. The overall handling capacity of these terminals is 9.2 million TEU, of which 4.2 million TEU of 35 land terminals. About 50% of land rail-road terminals' capacity is concentrated in three urban areas: Katowice, Poznań and Warsaw, and another 10% around Wrocław and Łódź.
- Three leading intermodal operators owning (or/and managing) the road-rail terminals are HHLA/Metrans (Polonia), PKP Cargo Group and PCC Intermodal. Concerning international trade, the Polish Eastern and Western borders, respectively with Belarus and Germany, are well developed. The Polish borders with Belarus and Germany were the busiest in 2021, with respectively 9,399 and 6,193 trains crossing.
- Due to the impact of the war in Ukraine on the growth of the intermodal transport volume along the New Silk Road, 307.2 thousand TEUs were transported via Poland from China to Europe, 8.7% less than last year, in the first half of 2022. In the past few months of 2022, rail freight between Poland and Ukraine has taken on a whole new role. Several terminals were added to the network to facilitate the new trade route this summer, such as in Mostyska, Zamość and Sosnowiec. These terminals have added much-needed capacity to the route. The new reality Poland is facing after the war on Ukraine was at the heart of the discussion at the Railfreight Summit 2022 in Warsaw, which was held on 7 & 8 September 2022.
- Within a few months, the role of Poland in the international rail freight market changed completely. Whereas it used to be the gateway to Europe for traffic from Asia with the most heavily consumed border crossing on the New Silk Road, it needs to reinvent itself as a result of the war in Ukraine. In the years 2021-2027, the total value of investments in Polish rail transport is roughly estimated at EUR 16 billion (USD 16.94 Billion). By 2025, several major railway undertakings in Poland will use only renewable energy when moving freight on electrified mainlines. It is CTL Logistics that has become the first rail freight operator in the country to use the energy generated from the sun and wind. Moreover, the Polish railway sector is committed to significantly reducing the consumption of energy in the coming years.
