Not 2, but 1 driver is enough to make the trains run faster. Unscientific regulations were abolished

quickly adopted new regulations that abolish the rule that there must be two drivers in the cabin for a train to travel at a speed of 160 km/h. So far, one driver could reach a speed of up to 130 km/h. The new regulations are intended to improve the punctuality of trains.

Trains will run faster with one driver

The ministry announced that this was a response to appeals from the environment. Portal that attempts to change this regulation “which limits the possibilities of railways in a scientifically unjustified way” have been going on for years. The industry has repeatedly pointed out that this provision has no equivalent in Europe. Its introduction was dictated by concerns about places for train drivers. Today, however, there is no shortage of work for them. Not at all, because the situation has reversed and the market is missing several hundred train drivers.

This is great news for PKP Intercity – it means that our punctuality will increase by at least 5%. I am even more happy because it is the culmination of 3 years of industry lobbying and one of the things that had to be done after the parliamentary elections. And here it is!

– summed up on X (formerly Twitter) Tomasz Gontarz, member of the Intercity management board, advisor to Prime Minister Morawiecki, and recently an important employee of the Ministry of Infrastructure.

“The new regulations also include changes in the implementation of high-speed lines, including the possibility of designing and building new railway lines without semaphores with rail traffic only based on the ERTMS/ETCS level 2 system” –

The regulation was published on October 23, 2023 in the Journal of Laws. The new regulations will enter into force 14 days after publication. Railway carriers and infrastructure managers will be obliged to adapt their internal regulations to the provisions of the above-mentioned. regulation within no more than 12 months from the date of its entry into force.

PKP is already making changes

The recently abolished rule was one of the reasons for frequent delays (e.g. on the Warsaw-Radom route) after the recent correction of timetables for trains that can run at 160 km/h. Although new timetables were created based on the change in speed, the trains could not always accelerate so fast due to the shortage of drivers and the above-mentioned regulations – informs ryb-kolejowy.pl.

Tomasz Gontarz also reported that on Wednesday, the PKP Intercity management board “ordered a correction of the timetable for 23/24 and an increase in speed from 130 to 160 km/h on those (few) sections where there were shortages of double drivers.” “We will conduct a dialogue with the infrastructure manager in this regard. The goal is to shorten the travel time, provide a better offer for passengers and make full use of the parameters of the new and modernized rolling stock,” writes Gontarz.