Such junk not only means low comfort for passengers but also gigantic maintenance costs. Germany knows this, which is why it is getting rid of this scrap, warns former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. Soon, PKP will add forty-year-old railcars purchased from Deutsche Bahn to its services.
Later this year, 50 used German railcars ordered by PKP Intercity will enter service on Polish tracks. From Deutsche Bahn, 12 first-class cars and 38 second-class cars were purchased. All of them can operate internationally and at speeds of up to 200 km/h.
According to the company’s management, PKP Intercity is opting for used rolling stock not for cost-saving reasons but out of necessity – the aim is to quickly strengthen the fleet before new trains produced in Polish factories enter service.
As calculated at the end of last year by the RynekKolejowy.pl portal, the purchase of rolling stock from Germany amounted to about EUR 22 million.
The transaction was criticized by former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
“What do you think – why is Poland buying German ‘junk’ that they no longer want?” he asks rhetorically in a post on X.
He points out that the cars were manufactured 40 years ago. “Such junk not only means low comfort for passengers but also gigantic maintenance costs. Germany knows this, which is why it is getting rid of this scrap,” says the vice-president of Law and Justice (PiS) in a video.