The Polish state-controlled rail freight operator PKP Cargo is continuing to restore its lost glory. The start of restructuring, two years ago, sowed the seeds of profitability and growth. It has nearly been a year since the operator booked its first profits, and with the overall market expanding, PKP Cargo is reaping the benefits: it is increasing its market share.
PKP Cargo says that it is “consistently strengthening its leadership position”. The operator occupies the largest market share in both transported volumes and performance measured in tonne-kilometres. It expanded its lead in May, PKP Cargo says while citing the Polish Office of Rail Transport (for).
When purely looking at volumes, PKP Cargo expanded its share to 27.4%. In terms of tonne-kilometres, its market share sat at 27.59%. By comparison, PKP Cargo’s market share was 26.74% in August 2025 (volume) and 26.49% in tonne-kilometres. That month saw rather quick market share growths of 1.48% and 1.73% respectively.
Smooth sailings and troubled waters: PKP moves forward
A notable difference between now and then is that PKP Cargo now operates in a growth market. As for August 2025, the company pointed out that other rail operators declined between July and August (-5.2% for their collective transported volume and -5.3% for transport performance).
By contrast, the Polish rail freight market grew by 6.1% year-on-year to 19.1 million tonnes in May. Transport performance also increased, reaching nearly 5.2 billion tonne-kilometres (+10.4% year-on-year).
PKP Cargo currently manages to grow in both shrinking and growing markets — a good sign for the company that remains in restructuring to this day. Still, it is important to provide some longer-term context here too. The operator’s gains may be celebrated, but all of this is in stark contrast to its ambitions from just a couple of years ago.
Expectations versus reality
In early 2023, PKP Cargo still occupied 39.4% of the market share. It still had big plans: by the end of that same year, it wanted to reach 65%. As a result of the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it adjusted its goal to 50% market share by 2027.
Unfortunately for PKP Cargo, things played out differently. In the short term, it lost over 10% of its market share in favour of challengers. The company maintained that the so-called coal decision, which obliged PKP Cargo to prioritise coal transportation over more lucrative deals, worsened its finances. It subsequently entered into restructuring proceedings in 2024.
