In 2022 the impact of the pandemic on passenger transport was felt far less than in 2021. Passengers were more willing to use public transport and carriers developed their services. Larger transport volumes could be also linked to the war in Ukraine and the passage of refugees to or through Poland. These were the reasons why passenger numbers reached a record high of 342.2 m people in 2022.
All major cities recorded an increase in passenger exchange in 2022. The largest rise – by 74% – was in Lublin, where i.a. a large increase in passenger exchange was achieved by PKP Intercity. An approx. 70% growth was recorded in Krakow. The total volume of passenger exchange reached a record level of 681.7 m getting on and off the train. It is an increase by 39.3% compared to 2021 and the highest volume registered in the last 10 years (in 2019 the passenger exchange was 669 m boardings/alightings).
The city with the highest passenger exchange among all regional capitals in 2022 was Warsaw with 95.2 m passengers. It was an increase by 35.2% compared to 2021. Moreover, in Warsaw there are the stations with the highest average number of trains per hour. In the first place is Warszawa Zachodnia with an average of 32 trains per hour. In comparison, the number of flight operations performed per hour at F. Chopin Airport in Warsaw is approx. 42.
In total, the share of stations located in 18 large cities (Białystok, Bydgoszcz, Gdańsk, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Katowice, Kielce, Kraków, Lublin, Łódź, Olsztyn, Opole, Poznań, Rzeszów, Szczecin, Toruń, Warsaw, Wrocław and Zielona Góra) amounted to 42.9% of the total passenger exchange in Poland.
Exchanges of more than 10,000 people per day were recorded at 25 stations. These stations were (starting form the largest): Wrocław Główny, Poznań Główny, Kraków Główny, Katowice, Warszawa Wschodnia, Gdynia Główna, Warszawa Centralna, Gdańsk Główny, Gdańsk Wrzeszcz, Warszawa Zachodnia, Warszawa Śródmieście, Sopot, Szczecin Główny, Gdynia Wzgórze Św. Maksymiliana, Bydgoszcz Główna, Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Skierniewice, Gdańsk Oliwa, Opole Główne, Żyrardów, Rzeszów Główny, Mińsk Mazowiecki, Warszawa Wileńska, Pruszków, Łódź Fabryczna. A total of 235.5 m passengers were exchanged at these stations (an average of 645,300 passengers per day).
Passenger exchanges between 1,000 and 10,000 passengers per day were recorded at 303 stations. In total, these stations handled 867.6 thousand passengers per day, i.e. more than 316.7 m passengers in 2022. The station closest to the upper limit was Warszawa Wola Grzybowska station, while to the lower limit was Kościerzyna station.
The remaining 2,541 stations were those with less than 1,000 passengers per day. They served a total of 354.7 thousand boardings and alightings in 2022, i.e. 129.5 m passengers, which accounted for 19% of the total passenger exchange in Poland.
Detailed data on passenger exchange is available under Passenger transport and Passenger exchange at stations at our statistical portal Railway Data.