Transport in Poland involves air, water, road and rail transportation. The country has a large network of municipal public transport, such as buses, trams and the metro. As a country located at the 'cross-roads' of Europe,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

is a nation with a large and increasingly modern network of transport infrastructure. The country's most important waterway is the

Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...

river. The largest seaports are the

Port of Gdańsk The Port of Gdańsk is a Polish seaport located on the southern coast of Gdańsk Bay in the city of Gdańsk, extending along the Vistula estuary Martwa Wisła (Dead Vistula), Port Channel and Kashubia Canal. It is one of the largest seaports o ...

, the

Port of Gdynia Port of Gdynia is a Polish seaport located on the western shore of Gdańsk Bay, Baltic Sea, in Gdynia. Founded in 1926, in 2008 it ranked second in intermodal container An intermodal container, often called a shipping container, or a frei ...

and the

Port of Szczecin The Port of Szczecin (in Polish generally ''Port Szczecin'') is a Polish seaport and deep water harbour in Szczecin, Poland. It is located at the Oder and Regalica rivers in the Lower Oder Valley, off the Szczecin Lagoon. In the past, the por ...

. Air travel is generally used for international travel, with many flights originating at

Warsaw Chopin Airport Warsaw Chopin Airport (, ) is an international airport in the Włochy district of Warsaw, Poland. It is the busiest airport in Poland and the 28th busiest airport in Europe with 21.3 million passengers in 2024, handling approximately 40% of ...

. Railways connect all of Poland's major cities and the state-owned

Polish State Railways The Polish State Railways ( , abbr.: PKP S.A.) is a Polish state-owned holding company (legally a sole-shareholder company of the State Treasury) comprising the rail transport holdings of the country's formerly dominant namesake railway oper ...

(PKP) corporation, through its subsidiaries, runs a great number of domestic and international services of varying speed and comfort. In addition to this, five out of sixteen Polish voivodeships have their own regional rail service providers.

Rail transport

Poland is served by an extensive network of railways. In most cities the main railway station is located near a city centre and is well connected to the local transportation system. The infrastructure is operated by PKP Group. The rail network is very dense in western and northern Poland, while eastern part of the country is less developed. The capital city,

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, has the country's only

rapid transit system Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separated rapid transit line below ground surface through a t ...

: the

Warsaw Metro The Warsaw Metro () is a rapid transit underground system serving the Poland, Polish capital Warsaw. It currently consists of two lines, the north–south M1 (Warsaw), M1 line which links central Warsaw with its densely populated northern and sou ...

. The only high-speed rail line (though by most definitions, real

high-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail transport network utilising trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated railway track, tracks. While there is ...

only includes speeds over 200 km/h) in central-eastern Europe is the

Central Rail Line (Poland) Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

, ''Centralna Magistrala Kolejowa'' (CMK). It has a length of , and was built in 1971–1977; it links

with

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

and

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

. Most trains on the CMK operate at speeds up to , but since December 2014 new

Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...

Pendolino Pendolino (from Italian language, Italian "pendulum", and ''-ino,'' a diminutive suffix) is an Italian family of high-speed tilting trains (and non-tilting) used in Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, the Czech Republic, ...

ED250 trains operate on a 90 km section of the CMK at , and improvements under way should raise the authorized speed to on most of the line. In test runs on the CMK in November 2013 a new

ED250 train set a new Polish speed record of . Other high-speed lines: *The Warsaw-Gdańsk-Gdynia railway route is undergoing a major upgrading costing $3 billion, partly funded by the

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the 27 member states. It is the largest multilateral financial institution in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt sol ...

, including track replacement, realignment of curves and relocation of sections of track to allow speeds up to , modernization of stations, and installation of the most modern

ETCS The European Train Control System (ETCS) is a train protection system designed to replace the many incompatible systems used by European railways, and railways outside of Europe. ETCS is the signalling and control component of the European ...

signalling system, which is to be completed in June 2015. In December 2014 new

ED250 high-speed trains were put into service between Gdańsk, Warsaw,

and

reducing the rail travel time from Gdańsk to Warsaw to 2 hours 58 minutes, to be reduced in late 2015 to 2 hours 37 minutes. * Warsaw–

Kutno Kutno is a city in central Poland with 42,704 inhabitants (2021) and an area of . It is the capital of Kutno County in the Łódź Voivodeship. Founded in the medieval period, Kutno was a local center of crafts and trade, owing its growth to i ...

–

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

–(Berlin) (160 km/h) * Warsaw–

Siedlce Siedlce () ( ) is a city in the Masovian Voivodeship in eastern Poland with 77,354 inhabitants (). The city is situated between two small rivers, the Muchawka and the Helenka, and lies along the European route E30, around east of Warsaw. It is ...

–

Terespol Terespol (; ) is a border town in eastern Poland on the border with Belarus. It lies on the border river Bug, directly opposite the city of Brest, Belarus. It has 5,794 inhabitants as of 2014. Overview Since 1999 Terespol has been within Bia� ...

–(

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

) (160, 120 km/h) – being upgraded to 160 km/h * Warsaw–

Puławy Puławy (, also written Pulawy) is a city in eastern Poland, in Lesser Poland's Lublin Voivodeship, at the confluence of the Vistula and Kurówka River, Kurówka Rivers. Puławy is the capital of Puławy County. The city's 2019 population was Cen ...

–

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 ...

(120, 140 km/h) *

Opole Opole (; ; ; ) is a city located in southern Poland on the Oder River and the historical capital of Upper Silesia. With a population of approximately 127,387 as of the 2021 census, it is the capital of Opole Voivodeship (province) and the seat of ...

–

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

(160 km/h) and further upgraded via

Legnica Legnica (; , ; ; ) is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River and the Czarna Woda. As well as being the seat of the county, since 1992 the city has been the seat of the Diocese of Legnica. Le ...

to Berlin and

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

''Projects'' The Warsaw–

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

line is being upgraded to allow speed up to 160 km/h (in order to bind together the Warsaw–Łódź agglomeration). Plans were made to construct a new high-speed line (350 km/h) from Warsaw to Poznań and Wrocław with forks in

and

Kalisz Kalisz () is a city in central Poland, and the second-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, with 97,905 residents (December 2021). It is the capital city of the Kalisz Region. Situated on the Prosna river in the southeastern part of Gr ...

., but the project was cancelled in November 2011 due to its high cost. The

PKP Group The PKP Group () is a Polish corporate group founded in 2001, from the former state enterprise, Polish State Railways. The purpose of this change was to separate infrastructure management and transport operations. It consists of the following com ...

is the fourth largest railway throughout Europe. Trains are run by its different subsidiaries.

Passenger transport operators

The following companies operate in Poland: *

PKP Intercity PKP Intercity is the subsidiary of the PKP Group responsible for long-distance rail passenger transport in Poland. It operates around 350 trains daily, connecting large agglomerations and smaller towns in Poland. It offers its services under ...

– qualified passengers trains (express, intercity, eurocity, hotel and TLK) *

Przewozy Regionalne Polregio (formerly ''Przewozy Regionalne'') is a train operator in Poland, responsible for local and interregional passenger transportation. Each day it runs approximately 3,000 regional trains. In 2002 it carried 215 million passengers. T ...

– regional passengers trains (normal and fast train) *

Koleje Śląskie Koleje Śląskie (Polish for Silesian Railways; KŚ) is a regional rail operator in the Silesian Voivodeship of Poland. The company was founded in 2010 and is fully owned by the local government. It started servicing in October 2011. Railway ...

- regional trains in

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship ( ) is an administrative province in southern Poland. With over 4.2 million residents and an area of 12,300 square kilometers, it is the second-most populous, and the most-densely populated and most-urbanized region of Poland ...

Koleje Mazowieckie Masovian Railways, in Polish Koleje Mazowieckie, is a regional rail operator in the Masovian Voivodeship of Poland. History The company was founded in 2004 as a joint venture of the Masovian Voivodeship, with 51% shares, and the then governmen ...

– local trains in

Mazovia Mazovia or Masovia ( ) is a historical region in mid-north-eastern Poland. It spans the North European Plain, roughly between Łódź and Białystok, with Warsaw being the largest city and Płock being the capital of the region . Throughout the ...

centered on Warsaw *

Szybka Kolej Miejska (Tricity) PKP Szybka Kolej Miejska w Trójmieście Sp. z o.o. (); (SKM; which translates as 'Rapid Urban Rail'), is a public rapid transit and commuter rail system in Poland's Tricity area (Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia), in addition to servicing the Little ...

– fast urban railway serving the Tricity area of Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot *

Szybka Kolej Miejska (Warsaw) Szybka Kolej Miejska (SKM; which translates as 'Rapid Urban Rail') is a mixed rapid transit and commuter rail system in the Warsaw metropolitan area, operated by the city owned company Szybka Kolej Miejska Sp. z o.o. under the management of War ...

– suburban railway in

agglomeration *

Warszawska Kolej Dojazdowa Warsaw Commuter Railway (, WKD) is a light rail commuter line in Poland's capital city of Warsaw. The line, together with its two branches, links Warsaw with the municipalities of Michałowice, Pruszków, Brwinów, Podkowa Leśna, Milanówek an ...

– suburban railway in Warsaw agglomeration * Arriva RP (owned by

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 ...

) – part of the local train traffic in

Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship * Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship is one of the 16 voivodeships (provinces) in Poland. * Kuyavian-Pomeranian is one of 13 Polish constituency of the European Parliament. * Kuyavian-Pomeranian Regional Assembly is the regional legislature of t ...

Koleje Dolnośląskie Koleje Dolnośląskie ( Polish for ''Lower Silesian Railways''; KD) is a regional rail operator in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship of Poland. The company was founded on 28 December 2007 by a decision of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship Sejmik and i ...

– part of the local train traffic in

Lower Silesian Voivodeship Lower Silesian Voivodeship (, ) in southwestern Poland, is one of the 16 Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divided. It covers an area of and has a total population of 2,899,986. It is one of the wealthiest ...

Koleje Wielkopolskie Koleje Wielkopolskie (Polish for Greater Poland Railways; KW) is a regional rail operator in the Greater Poland Voivodeship of Poland. The company was founded on 29 September 2009 and is fully owned by the regional government. Koleje Wielkopolski ...

– part of the local train traffic in

Greater Poland Voivodeship Greater Poland Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship, or province, in west-central Poland. The province is named after the region called Greater Poland (''Wielkopolska'' ). The modern province includes most of this historic re ...

Łódzka Kolej Aglomeracyjna Łódzka Kolej Aglomeracyjna (Łódź Metropolitan Railway) is a commuter rail, commuter and regional rail service operating between the Poland, Polish city of Łódź and surrounding towns in the Łódź Voivodeship (province). The company was f ...

- commuter railway operator in

Łódź Voivodeship Łódź Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland. The province is named after its capital and largest city, Łódź, pronounced . Łódź Voivodeship is bordered by six other voivodeships: Masovian Voivodeship ...

Narrow-gauge railways

There are hundreds of kilometres of , , , and narrow-gauge lines in

. These railways are mostly in decline, some survive as a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity on ...

railways.

Freight transport market

PKP Cargo PKP Cargo () is a logistics operator and a part of the PKP Group in Poland. It is the largest railway freight carrier in Poland and second largest in the European Union. PKP Cargo is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The company's largest shar ...

* PKP LHS – Metallurgic broad-gauge line * PTK Holding SA – The railway transportation holding in

Zabrze Zabrze (; German: 1915–1945: , full form: , , ) is an industrial city put under direct government rule in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. It lies in the western part of the Metropolis GZM, a metropolis with a population of around 2 m ...

*Przedsiębiorstwo Transportu Kolejowego i Gospodarki Kamieniem Rybnik – The Railway Transport and Stone Management Company in

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 ...

* CTL Logistics *

PCC Rail Szczakowa 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 (DB). The primary materials transported b ...

– Rail Szczakowa website – part of the German concern PCC AG *Kopalnia Piasku Kotlarnia – The Kotlarnia sand mine *Kopalnia Piasku Kuźnica Warężyńska – The

Kuźnica Warężyńska Kuźnica Warężyńska () is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Siewierz, within Będzin County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It lies approximately south-west of Siewierz, north-east of Będzin, and north-east of the ...

sand mine * Orlen KolTrans *

Lotos Kolej Orlen Kolej (formerly ''Lotos Kolej sp. z o.o.'' from 2003 until 13 October 2024) is a Polish rail company operating as a subsidiary of PKN Orlen. Orlen Kolej is responsible for transporting Orlen products and delivering petrol for the Gdańsk R ...

*Nadwiślanski Zakład Transportu Kolejowego- Vistula Rail Transport Company]

Broad-gauge railways

Except for Broad Gauge Metallurgy Line, Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa, and a few very short stretches near

border crossings Borders are generally defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

, Poland uses the

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

for its railways. Therefore,

Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa Broad Gauge Metallurgy Line (, LHS) is the longest broad gauge railway line in Poland. Except for this line and a few very short stretches near border crossings, Poland uses standard gauge. The single-track line runs for almost from the Polish ...

(known by its acronym ''LHS'', English: ''Broad-gauge steelworks line'') in

Sławków Sławków is a town in the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland, located in the Zagłębie Dąbrowskie (part of historic province of Lesser Poland), near Katowice. Outer town of the Metropolis GZM – a metropolis with a population of around 2 ...

is the longest

broad-gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

in Poland. The line runs on a single track for almost from the Polish- Ukrainian border, crossing it just east of

Hrubieszów Hrubieszów (; ; , or ) is a town in southeastern Poland, with a population of around 18,212 (2016). It is the capital of Hrubieszów County within the Lublin Voivodeship. Throughout history, the town's culture and architecture was strongly shaped ...

. It is the westernmost broad-gauge railway line in Europe that is connected to the broad-gauge rail system of the countries of the former

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Rail system

Total: *standard gauge : ( electrified; double track) *broad gauge : *narrow gauge (various) : various gauges including , , , and (1998) As of December 2002 narrow-gauge railways were no longer owned or operated by PKP. They were transferred to regional authorities or became independent companies.

Rail links with adjacent countries

* Same gauge: **

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

Break-of-gauge With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock generally canno ...

– / **

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

(

Kaliningrad Oblast Kaliningrad Oblast () is the westernmost federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of the Russian Federation. It is a Enclave and exclave, semi-exclave on the Baltic Sea within the Baltic region of Prussia (region), Prussia, surrounded by Pola ...

) **

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 ...

Road transport

Polish public roads are grouped into categories related to

administrative division Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

. Poland has of public roads, of which are unsurfaced (2021): * National roads (Technical classes A, S, GP and exceptionally G): , unsurfaced *

Voivodeship road According to classes and categories of public roads in Poland, a voivodeship A voivodeship ( ) or voivodate is the area administered by a voivode (governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed sinc ...

s (Classes G, Z and exceptionally GP): , unsurfaced * Powiat roads (Classes G, Z and exceptionally L): , unsurfaced * Gmina roads (Classes L, D and exceptionally Z): , unsurfaced In recent years, the network has been improving and government spending on road construction recently saw a huge increase, due to rapid development of the country and the inflow of

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

funds for infrastructure projects.

Motorways and expressways

Polish motorways and expressways are part of national roads network. As of December 2021, there are of

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

s (''autostrady'', singular - ''autostrada'') and of

expressways Expressway may refer to: *Controlled-access highway, the highest-grade type of highway with access ramps, lane markings, etc., for high-speed traffic *Limited-access road, a lower grade of highway or arterial road * ''Expressway'' (film), a 2016 Fi ...

(''drogi ekspresowe'', singular - ''droga ekspresowa''). Motorways in Poland, (2021):
A1 , A2 , A4 , A6 , A8 , A18 PL road sign D-7

Expressways in Poland, (2021):
S1 , S2 , S3 , S5 , S6 , S7 , S8 ,

S10 S10 may refer to: Automobiles * Chevrolet S-10, a pickup truck * Nissan Silvia (S10), a sports car * Toyota Crown (S10), a luxury car Aviation * Lake Chelan Airport, in Chelan County, Washington, United States * Letov Š-10, a Czech trainer a ...

, S11 , S12 , S14 , S16 , S17 , S19 , S22 , S51 , S52 , S61 , S74 , S79 , S86

Air transport

The most important airport in Poland is Warsaw 'Frederic Chopin' International Airport. Warsaw's airport is the main international hub for

LOT Polish Airlines LOT Polish Airlines, legally Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT S.A. (, ''flight''), is the flag carrier of Poland. A founding member of IATA, it is one of the world's oldest airlines. With a fleet of 87 aircraft as of June 2025, LOT is Europe's 16th ...

. In addition to Warsaw Chopin,

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

and

all have international airports. In preparation for the

Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

football championships jointly hosted by Poland and

, a number of airports around the country were renovated and redeveloped. This included the building of new terminals with an increased number of jetways and stands at both

Wrocław Airport Wrocław Nicolaus Copernicus Airport () is an international civil-military airport in Wrocław in Lower Silesian Voivodeship in southwestern Poland. It is Poland's 5th busiest airport. In 2023, it handled over 3.8 million passengers. The airport ...

and Lech Wałęsa Airport in Gdańsk.

Airlines

There are a total of 8 Polish airline companies currently operating, with the most successful airline being

, the

flag carrier A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by that government for international operations. Histo ...

of Poland. It is also the only regularly-scheduled airline in Poland. 6 of the airlines are chartered airlines, including

Buzz Buzz may refer to: People * Buzz (nickname), a list of people * J. Buzz Von Ornsteiner (born 1967; aka ''Dr. Buzz''), American forensic psychologist and journalist Fictional characters * Buzz, a character in the 1987 American comedy movie ...

Enter Air Enter Air S.A._(corporation), S.A. is a Polish charter airline with its head office in Warsaw, Poland, and main base at Warsaw Chopin Airport and Katowice Airport. It operates holiday and charter flights out of its hubs in Poznań–Ławica Ai ...

, LOT Charters, Skytaxi,

SprintAir SprintAir S.A. is a Polish airline headquartered in Warsaw and based at Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport. It operates cargo services and passenger charter flights. History The airline was set up in 2002 under the name of ''Air Polonia Cargo Sp. z ...

, and

Smartwings Poland Smartwings Poland Sp. z o.o., formerly ''Travel Service Polska Sp. z o.o.'', is a Polish charter airline based in Warsaw. The airline commenced operations in May 2012 from Warsaw Chopin Airport, and is a subsidiary airline of Czech airline Smartw ...

. SprintAir Cargo is also the main cargo airline in Poland.

Airports

The Polish airline market was until 2004 a closed market, with bilateral agreements between countries served from the national hub – Warsaw. The regional airports were mostly serving as spokes, and were controlled by PPL, the state-owned airport authority. However, in the 1990s it was decided to deregulate the airport market and abolish the dominant position of PPL. Nearly all local airports (apart from Zielona Góra airport) became separate companies, with local governments involved in their management, which led to the partial decentralisation. Soon after opening of Polish sky for competition, flights "avoiding" the Warsaw hub became more common. There are twelve passenger airports in operation, and there is also an airport Heringsdorf in German village Garz, 7 kilometers from Polish seaside spa Świnoujście.

International airports

List of airports in Poland This is a list of airports in Poland, sorted by location, IATA and ICAO airport codes, passenger traffic and runway surface. An additional airport, slated to open in 2028, is planned for greater Warsaw. Warsaw Solidarity Airport, also known as C ...

The following are the largest airports in Poland (In descending order for 2013): *

Kraków John Paul II International Airport Kraków John Paul II International Airport ( since 4 September 2007; earlier in ) is an international airport located near Kraków, in the village of Balice, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Balice, west of the city centre, in southern Poland. The a ...

* Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa International Airport *

Katowice Airport Katowice Wojciech Korfanty Airport () is an international airport, located in Pyrzowice, north of Katowice, Poland. The airport is named after Wojciech Korfanty, a politician of the early years of Polish independence. It is the fourth-busie ...

* Poznań International Airport *

Rzeszów–Jasionka Airport Rzeszów Ulma Airport is an international airport located in southeastern Poland, in Jasionka, Rzeszów County, Jasionka, a village from the center of the city of Rzeszów. Not to be confused with the much smaller used by Rzeszów University ...

Łódź Władysław Reymont Airport Lodz Airport Central Poland , formerly known as ''Łódź-Lublinek Airport'', is a regional airport in central Poland, located approximately southwest of Łódź city center. Łódź ranked 8th among Polish airports in 2013 in passenger numbers ...

Solidarity Szczecin–Goleniów Airport Solidarity Szczecin–Goleniów Airport ( Polish: ''Port Lotniczy Szczecin–Goleniów im. NSZZ Solidarność'') is the main domestic and international airport serving the city of Szczecin in Poland and is located northeast of the city, near th ...

Warsaw Modlin Airport Warsaw Modlin Airport is an international airport located in the town of Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, approximately 40 km (25 miles) north of central Warsaw, Poland. The airport is intended to be used by low-cost carriers serving Warsaw. As of 201 ...

Bydgoszcz Ignacy Jan Paderewski Airport Bydgoszcz Ignacy Jan Paderewski Airport () is a regional airport in the city of Bydgoszcz, Poland. It lies only from the city centre and around 50 km from the city of Toruń. It is the eleventh largest airport in Poland in terms of passe ...

Lublin Airport Lublin Airport (''Port Lotniczy Lublin'') is an airport in Poland serving Lublin and the surrounding region. The site is located about 10 km (6.2 miles) east of central Lublin, adjacent to the town of Świdnik. The airport has a 2520 ...

Warsaw Radom Airport Warsaw Radom Heroes of Radom June 1976 Airport , also known as Radom-Sadków Airport, is a joint airport, civil–military airport in central Poland, located approximately east of Radom city center and from Warsaw. The name "Sadków" comes from ...

Olsztyn-Mazury Airport Olsztyn-Mazury Airport () is an international passenger airport in the North-East of Poland, branded as the gateway to the Masurian Lake District. It is located near Szymany, some 10 km from the centre of Szczytno in the Warmian-Masurian ...

Domestic: * Zielona Góra-Babimost Airport Airports with paved runways: Total: 84 (2005) * over 3,047 m: 4 * 2,438 to 3,047 m: 29 * 1,524 to 2,437 m: 41 * 914 to 1,523 m: 7 * under 914 m: 3 Airports – with unpaved runways: Total: 39 (2005) * 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 * 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 * 914 to 1,523 m: 13 * under 914 m: 21 Heliports: 2 (2005)

Water transport

The country's most important waterway is the river

. The largest seaports are the

and

. Marine transport in Poland has two main sub-groups, riverine and seaborne. On the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

coast, a number of large seaports exist to serve the international freight and passenger trade; these are typically deep water ports and are able to serve very large ships, including the

ro-ro Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their ...

ferries of

Unity Line Unity Line is a Polish company that operates RoRo and train ferry services between Świnoujście in Poland and the Swedish ports of Ystad and Trelleborg. Routes Unity Line operates two routes across the Baltic Sea. *Świnoujście - Ystad *Świn ...

Polferries Polferries is the largest Polish ferry operator. The Polish Baltic Shipping Company was established on 31 January 1976 as a state-owned shipping company. Under the operating name ''Polferries'', the company runs ferry routes across the Baltic Sea ...

and

Stena Line Stena Line is a Swedish Shipping line, shipping line company and one of the world's largest ferry operators. It services Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland and Sweden. Stena Line is a ...

which operate the

–

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

passenger lines. Riverine services operate on almost all major Polish rivers and canals (such as the Danube–Oder and

Elbląg canal Elbląg Canal (; ) is a canal in Poland, in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in length, which runs southward from Drużno, Lake Drużno (connected by the river Elbląg (river), Elbląg to the Vistula Lagoon), to the river Drwęca and lake Jeziorak ...

s) as well as on domestic coastal routes.

Waterways

Poland has of navigable rivers and canals (as of 2009).

Ports and harbors

'' (

: Gdańsk —

Nynäshamn Nynäshamn is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Nynäshamn Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 13,510 inhabitants in 2010. While interest in the area as a potentially useful port grew from the mid-19th century, it was only ...

Ystad Ystad () is a town and the seat of Ystad Municipality, in Scania County, Sweden. Ystad had 18,350 inhabitants in 2010. The settlement dates from the 11th century and has become a busy ferryport, local administrative centre, and tourist attracti ...

)'' *

'' (

: Gdynia —

Karlskrona Karlskrona (, , ) is a locality and the seat of Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden with a population of 66,675 in 2018. It is also the capital of Blekinge County. Karlskrona is known as Sweden's only baroque city and is host to ...

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

'' and ''

Finnlines Finnlines Plc (, ) is a shipping operator of Roll-on/roll-off, ro-ro and passenger services in the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, and the Celtic Sea. It is a subsidiary of the Grimaldi Group. Finnlines’ sea transports are concentrated in the Balt ...

: Gdynia —

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

)'' *

Port of Szczecin-Świnoujście The Port of Szczecin-Świnoujście (in Polish generally ''Port Szczecin-Świnoujście'' ) is a Polish seaport complex in cities of Szczecin and Świnoujście, within northwestern part of West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. The complex was creat ...

'' (

: Świnoujście —

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Rønne Rønne () is the largest town on the Denmark, Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. It has a population of 13,675 (1 January 2025). It was a municipality in its own right from 1970 until 2002, when Bornholm was a Bornholm County, county (D ...

'' and ''

: Świnoujście —

Trelleborg Trelleborg () is a town in Skåne County, Sweden, with 43,359 inhabitants as of 31 December 2015. It is the southernmost town in Sweden located some west from the Smygehuk, southernmost point of Sweden and the Scandinavian Peninsula. It is one ...

)'' * Port of Police * Port of Kołobrzeg * Port of Ustka

Merchant marine

Total: 57 ships (1,000 GT or over) totaling 1,120,165 GT/ Ships by type: bulk 50, cargo 2, chemical tanker 2, roll-on/roll-off 1, short-sea passenger 2 (1999 est.) **

Municipal transport

Bus

Most Polish towns and cities have well-developed municipal bus services. Typically, a city possesses its own local bus service, however, in some cases they have private competitors operating on certain lines upon the agreement with local authorities. Until the 1990s, interurban connections were operated by a single, state-owned company PKS. Since then, it has been broken into a number of independent national and municipal enterprises. In addition, several private operators emerged. There are two classes of service distinguished by vehicle length: * ''autobus'' — longer vehicles (12.0 m and more), * ''bus'' — shorter vehicles with smaller capacity, very popular on local connections, run by individual persons and smaller companies. While they often use the same bus stops, they tend to use different stations.

Tram

Bigger cities run dense tram networks, which are the primary mean of public transport. Currently, there are 15 systems serving over 30 cities including

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

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 ...

and

, with the total track length varying from (

Silesian Interurbans Silesian Trams () is one of the largest tram systems in the world and the largest and longest tram system in Poland, located entirely within the Silesian Voivodeship. Started as a part of the German Empire in 1894, the system currently has 677 st ...

) to less than ( Tramways in Grudziądz). A new network has been constructed in

Olsztyn Olsztyn ( , ) is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with powiat rights, city with county rights. The population of the city was estimated at 169,793 residents Olsz ...

in 2015. See the

list of town tramway systems in Poland This is a list of town tramway systems in Poland. It includes all tram systems in Poland, past and present; cities with currently operating systems, and those systems themselves, are indicated in bold and blue background colored rows. Those tram ...

Since the 1990s, a number of cities attempts to upgrade certain parts of their networks to the

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

standard (called ''szybkie tramwaje'', En. ''fast trams''). The most notable investments are

Poznań Fast Tram Poznań Fast Tram (, PST, informally: PeSTka, ''pestka'' – drupe, stone fruit) is a stretch of grade-separated tram/light rail line of the tram system in Poznań, Poland. The tracks are set in a cutting or on an overpass, switches allowing ...

and

Kraków Fast Tram Kraków Fast Tram () is a light rail network being developed in Kraków alongside Trams in Kraków, the existing tramway. It consists of several modernized or purpose-built tram tracks with radio-controlled Traffic signal preemption, absolute pri ...

with the underground premetro section.

Trolleybus

Trolleybuses can be found in three cities:

Gdynia Gdynia is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With an estimated population of 257,000, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk ...

(with some lines reaching

Sopot Sopot (; or ) is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomerania Province and has the City with powiat ri ...

and

Tychy Tychy (Polish pronunciation: ; ) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, approximately south of Katowice. Situated on the southern edge of the Upper Silesian industrial district, the city borders Katowice to the north, Mikołów to the west, Bie ...

Rapid transit

The first

metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

line was opened in

in 1995. Part of the second line was opened in 2015. This is part of the country's rail transport infrastructure. There is an ongoing debate whether a new metro or premetro should be built in

. The current President of Kraków,

Aleksander Miszalski Aleksander Miszalski (born 7 August 1980) is a Polish politician serving as mayor of Kraków since 2024. From 2019 to 2024, he was a member of the Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower hou ...

, supports the idea and has declared that first works will commence in 2028. File:Warsaw 07-13 img37 Plac Wilsona metro.jpg, Plac Wilsona Station File:A21 Warsaw Metro.jpg, Stare Bielany station File:C10 Rondo ONZ - peron, Ogłoszenie wyników plebiscytu na głos linii M2, 2014-10-29.jpg, Rondo ONZ Station and the Siemens Inspiro stock train

Commuter trains

In major Polish cities such as

and the Tricity area, Commuter (SKM) trains provide efficient connections between the city center and surrounding suburbs or satellite towns. In other cities like Łódź (served by ŁKA) and Kraków (served by

SKA Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...

), similar commuter rail services operate under different names but follow the same principles and rules.

Pipelines

* Crude oil and petroleum products * Natural gas (2006 est.)

References

External links

Online rail timetables

Online rail and bus timetable
Rail Map: Poland
(PDF) Most minor lines omitted
Road Map: Poland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Transport In Poland Transport in Poland,

Rail transport

Passenger transport operators

Narrow-gauge railways

Freight transport market

Broad-gauge railways

Rail system

Rail links with adjacent countries

Road transport

Motorways and expressways

Air transport

Airlines

Airports

International airports

Water transport

Waterways

Ports and harbors

Merchant marine

Municipal transport

Bus

Tram

Trolleybus

Rapid transit

Commuter trains

Pipelines

See also

References

External links