Transport in Poland

Transport in Poland involves air, water, road and rail transportation. The country has a large network of public transport, such as buses, trams and the metro.

Water

The country's most important waterway is the Vistula river. The largest seaports are Gdańsk, Gdynia and Szczecin. There are 3,997 km (2,480 mi) of navigable rivers and canals (as of 2009).

Air transport

Location of main airports in Poland, with number of passengers served in 2016

Terminal 2 of the Warsaw Chopin Airport

Wrocław Airport - interior of the terminal T2

New terminal at Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport

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

In addition to Warsaw Chopin, Wrocław, Gdańsk, Katowice, Kraków and Poznań all have international airports.

Rail transport

Railways in Poland

Wrocław Główny railway station, the busiest train station in Wrocław.

A PKP Intercity ED250 Pendolino at Wrocław Main Station.

Gdańsk Main Station, one of Poland's most important railway terminals

A Polish locomotive takes over haulage duty from a Deutsche Bahn unit at Rzepin on a Berlin-Warsaw Express train

Poland has a network of railways.. It is run by Polish State Railways. The rail network is very dense in western and northern Poland. The eastern part of the country has fewer railways. The capital city, Warsaw, has the country's only rapid transit system: the Warsaw Metro.

The only high-speed rail line in central-eastern Europe is the Central Rail Line,. It is 223 km (139 mi) long, and was built in 1971–1977. It links Warsaw with Kraków and Katowice.

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, including track replacement, realignment of curves and relocation of sections of track to allow speeds up to 200 km/h (124 mph), modernization of stations, and installation of the most modern ETCS signalling system, which is to be completed in June 2015.
• Warsaw–Kutno–Poznań–(Berlin) (160 km/h)
• Warsaw–Siedlce–Terespol–(Minsk) (160, 120 km/h) – being upgraded to 160 km/h
• Warsaw–Puławy–Lublin (120, 140 km/h)
• Opole–Wrocław (160 km/h) and further upgraded via Legnica to Berlin and Hamburg

Road transport

Map of planned motorway and expressway network in Poland.

A2 near Poznań, opened in 2003

Semi-trailer truck average daily traffic in 2015

Poland has 424,563 km (263,810 mi) of public roads, of which 120,563 km (74,910 mi) are unsurfaced (2021):

• National roads (Technical classes A, S, GP and exceptionally G): 19,403 km (12,060 mi), 1.9 km (1 mi) unsurfaced
• Voivodeship roads (Classes G, Z and exceptionally GP): 28,924 km (17,970 mi), 63.2 km (39 mi) unsurfaced
• Powiat roads (Classes G, Z and exceptionally L): 124,572 km (77,410 mi), 11,379 km (7,070 mi) unsurfaced
• Gmina roads (Classes L, D and exceptionally Z): 251,664 km (156,380 mi), 120,419 km (74,820 mi) 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 funds for infrastructure projects.

Motorways and expressways

Polish motorways and expressways are part of the national roads network. As of December 2021, there are 1,721 kilometres (1,070 mi) of motorways and 2,790 km (1,730 mi) of expressways .