PKP Intercity Is the Target of Government Changes: Introducing the New Leadership

Post-election changes did not escape PKP Intercity either. New managers have been appointed to its management. RAILTARGET presents them exclusively.

PKP Intercity, which the government separated from the holding structure in 2001, is dedicated to long-distance passenger transport. It operates Intercity, Eurocity, and Express trains as well as sleeper coaches. It owns a subsidiary for the repair and modernization of wagons and locomotives, PKP Intercity Remtrak Sp. z o.o.

The General Meeting of PKP Intercity S.A. appointed Janusz Malinowski as Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dagmara Zawadzka as Deputy Chairman, and Marcin Karasiński and Adam Wawrzyniak as members of the Board of Directors.

Janusz Malinowski is a graduate of the Faculty of Transportation of the Technical University of Radom and the Technical University of Warsaw in the field of railway transport management. He has worked in the railway industry throughout his professional life. He managed the regional Łódź railway. He worked for PKP in 2011-2014, when he was responsible for the largest-ever investment in rolling stock, including the purchase of locomotives and Pendolino trains.

Dagmara Zawadzka will be in charge of investments and finance, which she handled in state-owned energy companies. From 2015 to 2016, she was involved as Director of Finance and Purchasing in the restructuring of PKP Intercity.

Marcin Karasiński is an expert on EU funds, having worked for regional Polish railways, and telecommunications companies, and for several years in the Ministry of Infrastructure.

Adam Wawrzyniak has been working for PKP Intercity since 2011. He was in charge of fleet acquisition and maintenance. He has completed UIC-certified high-speed rail operations management courses in Spain and France.

According to the prevailing opinion in the new government, the company is not in such a shape to face a fully liberalized railway market. Although PKP Intercity set a historic record for the number of passengers carried last year, the new deputy minister of infrastructure, Piotr Malepszak, claims that other railway companies, not only in Poland but across Europe, are also seeing an increase in passenger traffic. He said the company is not capable of further growth as it is, without reorganization and changes to the timetable, citing as an argument that 40% of the carriages are not in service for various reasons. There is no lack of frequent comparisons with ČD a.s. in the professional community.

Rynek kolejowy, published by the Polish Railway Chamber, wrote on 19 April that Czech wagons serve several Polish domestic PKP Intercity services. However, the acquisitions are not carried out in an open tender procedure, but in a direct procurement under an international contract. ČD a.s. also capitalizes on the situation in PKP Intercity in other ways. They lease Vectron locomotives to PKP Intercity.