Because Intercity trains became a real competition for local transport. Competition – from their point of view – undesirable. This is not a healthy situation. We will gotta find a solution in the future – announced Janusz Malinowski, president of PKP Intercity, quoted by the market-railway.pl.Intercity is cheaper than regional carriers The PKP Intercity Management Board and the Ministry of Infrastructure slow adjusts passengers to the possible increase in ticket prices. According to Piotr Malebszak, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, prices have not been changed in 10 years. However, he warned that: – We will not increase ticket prices drastically. It's not possible. However, there must not be a situation where a long-distance carrier is cheaper than a regional carrier – and this is the case today. In this way, he announced an increase in the price of Intercity trains tickets. Janusz Malinowski besides confirmed this. As an argument, he cited an unequal situation on the railway market. What does that mean? – On episodes of up to 100 km we are much cheaper than regional carriers and this with a much better offer. This is not a healthy situation. We will gotta find a solution in the future – explained Malinowski. Long-distance connections are cheaper than regional connections by up to 30%. Passengers choose cheaper offersThis is confirmed by passengers who are more and more eager to choose Intercity trains. Among them is Mr Tomasz, who for professional reasons frequently has to decision between 2 close cities. “This is about 50 km 1 way,” he explains. – I choose this carrier, due to the fact that – first of all – I pay little for the ticket, and second, I make this way much faster. It takes me 30 minutes. Train Polregio – 45 minutes. The choice is obvious. According to the Ministry's data, in the top 20 accounts with the largest increases in passenger numbers are just routes up to 50 or 70 km long. – By expanding the offer from, for example, 15 to 20 connections per day, erstwhile the local government carrier launches them 25-30, we are already becoming a faster alternate for it," stressed Deputy Minister Malebszak. He adds: "If we are cheaper in addition, the passenger chooses our offer, due to the fact that he has an alternate in the form of trains moving all hr and even more often. In the first 4th of that year, PKP Intercity carried nearly 18.5 million passengers, 10% more than in the same period last year. Read also:
