Passenger transport
In August, for the first time since the onset of the epidemic, the monthly results for passenger transport were over 20 m passengers, transport performance reached 1.5 bn pass-km and operational performance was over 14.5 m train-km. The drops were 28.8%, 32% and 3.8% respectively as compared to the previous year’s values.
The other visible trend was holidays’ passengers boost. In June and July increases in passenger volumes were over 4 m passengers, but in August it only rose by 1.3 m passengers.
- In summer months passengers decided to return to rail. They trusted rail operators when planning their holiday trips. As the school year begins, the commuting gains importance what becomes already visible in statistics. The rail operators have re-established the major part of usual connections to answer this demand. The monthly results for passenger transport are becoming more and more optimistic but we cannot forget that the pandemic still has its hold on passenger transport. – admits Ignacy Góra, the President of the Office of Rail Transport.
The results for January – August are over 143 m passengers, nearly 9 bn pass-km and nearly 104 m train-km. The drops in this period were 34.4%, 39.7% and 9.2% respectively as compared the previous year’s values. The parameter where the decline is most visible is transport performance. The average distance travelled by passengers was 62.5 km and lower by 8% as compared to the last year’s values. It reflects a significant reduction in distance travelled in the beginning of pandemic.
Detailed data on rail passenger transport can be found in the Passenger transport statistics section.
Rail freight
In August the weight of the goods transported was 18.8 m tonnes, freight transport performance reached 4.5 bn tonne-km and operational performance was 6.6 million train-km. As compared to August 2020 these values are lower by 3%, 2.2% and 1.7%, respectively. These drops are the smallest since the beginning of pandemic.
- If we compare freight and passenger transport, it becomes obvious that the freight is more resilient to changes brought by the pandemic. It is visible in August statistics. For example, the main rail freight operator in Poland has achieved in August the best results since the beginning of the epidemic. It should also be noted that despite the drop in GDP or consumer services sector revenues, the rail component in intermodal transport reached really high values. It shows that the gains can be achieved even during the epidemic, but the rail operators have to find solutions to minimize Covid-19 impact on their performance. - comments Ignacy Góra, the President of the Office of Rail Transport.
The results in rail freight for January – August are 142 m tonnes transported, 33.2 bn tonne-km in freight transport performance and 49.3 m train-km in operational performance. The drops in this period were 9.8%, 11.6% and 10.4% respectively as compared the previous year’s values. The average distance for rail freight in January – August was 233 km which is 2% less than in the last year.
Detailed data on rail freight can be found in the Freight statistics section.