PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A. (PKP Polish Railway Lines; PKP PLK) is the Polish railway infrastructure manager, responsible for maintenance of rail tracks, conducting trains across the country, scheduling train timetables, and management of railway land.
The company was founded in 2001 as part of the break-up of the once-unitary Polish State Railways JSC, to separate infrastructure management and transport operations.
Activities
During 2000, a substantial restructuring of Polish railways in favour of a liberalised model permission of private operators and external participate, was enacted, one result of which was the creation of PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A. as Poland's new railway infrastructure manager in place of the unified Polish State Railways JSC. The approach of these reforms were largely similar to those being implemented across most of the member nations of the European Union (EU). PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe did not inherit all infrastructure-related aspects of the former Polish State Railways, those that directly dealt with construction works were intentionally kept apart, and were partially privatised as separate entities. Instead, the new infrastructure management organisation came to agreements with those contractors, as well other parties, on a competitive and fair basis in accordance with binding Public Procurement Law; the treatment of all bidder and the overall bidding procedure were monitored as a precaution against irregularities by the Polish government. As a result, many international contractors from across the EU secured work on Poland's railways over the following years.
In 2006, Poland’s Council of Ministers approved the adoption of the Infrastructure and Environment for 2007-2013 operational programme, under which PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe played a leading role in the modernisation of major portions of Poland's rail network during this timeframe.