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DB Cargo Polska (formerly DB Schenker Rail Polska and PCC Rail) is a Polish company operating mainly in rail freight transportation. It is presently owned by the German state railway company
Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...
(DB). The primary materials transported by the company have traditionally been
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...
,
gas Gas is a state of matter that has neither a fixed volume nor a fixed shape and is a compressible fluid. A ''pure gas'' is made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon) or molecules of either a single type of atom ( elements such as ...
, oil products and
sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...
. In 2008, the volume of freight handled by the company amounted to in excess of 90 million tons.


History

PCC Rail Szczakowa emerged from a local mining-transport company of the ''Sand Mine Szczakowa'' (Kopalnia Piasku Szczakowa), having operated as such for over 50 years. During 2000, it was acquired by
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
chemicals and logistics company PCC SE. On 16 November 2006, the company's name was shortened to PCC Rail. By the end of 2008, PCC Rail reportedly had a market share in the Polish rail freight sector of 8%. During January 2009, PCC announced the sale of its Polish rail logistics subsidiary to the German state railway company
Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...
(DB); at the time of the transaction, PCC Rail was the largest privately-owned railway company operating in Poland. The acquisition of the company, which was initially rebranded as ''DB Schenker Rail Poland'', was one part of a wider trend towards consolidation that was occurring across Europe at that time. By mid-2012, it was reported that almost half of all rail freight in Poland was being carried by one of several open-access operators, the largest being DB Schenker Rail Poland, having proved to be highly competitive with the nation's incumbent operator PKP Cargo. DB's share of the market was reportedly 20.9%. Nevertheless, Hans Georg Werner, the
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
of DB Schenker Rail Poland publicly accused PKP Cargo of conducting
anti-competitive practices Anti-competitive practices are business or government practices that prevent or reduce Competition (economics), competition in a market. Competition law, Antitrust laws ensure businesses do not engage in competitive practices that harm other, u ...
, specifically that it had unreasonably prevented the company from accessing its terminal outside
Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...
, and thus hampering rivals from running their own intermodal freight services; the accusation was disputed by PKP Cargo's management. Three years later, the heads of DB Schenker Rail Polska, Freightliner PL, and CTL Logistics jointly voiced their concerns that high charges for track access and the poor quality of some infrastructure were hindering the development of the rail freight sector in Poland; specifically, there was little modernisation work, a shortage of suitable sidings for loading/unloading, a lack of facilities to handle intermodal freight, and allegations of monopolistic practices by PKP Cargo. During March 2020, DB Cargo Polska transported thousands of tonnes of
humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and Humanitarian Logistics, logistic assistance, usually in the short-term, to people in need. Among the people in need are the homelessness, homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. Th ...
from across Europe to neighbouring
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
as a part of the international response to the outbreak of the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
. By August 2020, the company was one of several rail freight companies actively participating in the land shipment of
grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...
out of Ukraine and across Europe; traditionally it would have been transported by ship via the nation's ports on the
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, but this route had been
blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are ...
d by the
Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...
.


Rolling stock

In 2010, DB Cargo Polska owned 360 locomotives along with 7,700 wagons and other forms of
rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, Railroad car#Freight cars, freight and Passenger railroad car, passenger cars (or coaches) ...
. During December 2012, following a reportedly successful trial, DB Cargo Polska placed an order for 23 Siemens Vectron electric locomotives; these units, which were assembled at Siemens'
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
plant, were delivered by the end of 2015. The contract includes an option for an additional 13 locomotives. The Vectron was the first locomotive designed to conform with the Technical Specification for Interoperability, facilitating the easier operation of cross-border services.


Dependent companies

* DB Port Szczecin Sp. z o.o.,
Szczecin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Poland-Germany border, German border, it is a major port, seaport, the la ...
(Poland) – 93,40% * Infra SILESIA S.A.,
Rybnik Rybnik (Polish pronunciation: ; ) is a city in southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, around 38 km (24 mi) southwest of Katowice, the region's capital, and around 19 km (11 mi) from the Czech Republic, Czech border. It i ...
(Poland) – 100% * DB Cargo Spedkol Sp. z o.o., Kędzierzyn-Koźle (Poland) – 100%


See also

* Transportation in Poland * List of railway companies * Polish locomotives designation


References


External links

* * Railway companies of Poland PCC Rail companies Deutsche Bahn {{poland-rail-transport-stub