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calls for the domestic production of some diesels of this type. Electric locomotives have been purchased from the United Kingdom, Sweden, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and from the domestic industry (Figure 1), which in 1970 introduced a new 4,080-hp. electric locomotive. Two prototypes are being tested and should be in operation sometime in 1973.
The estimated PKP locomotive and rolling-stock inventory in December 1970 was as follows:
- Locomotives:
- Steam: 5,200
- Diesel: 1,000
- Electric: 800
- Rolling Stock:
- Freight cars: 280,000[1]
- Passenger cars: 13,900
The rolling-stock industry has concentrated on building four-axle freight cars having an average capacity of 28.6 short tons. New types of passenger cars are being developed for long-distance domestic and international traffic. Poland's membership in the CEMA freight-car pool has helped relieve the shortage of rolling stock considerably.
Expansion and modernization of repair shops has continued to be among the top priorities for increasing railroad efficiency. The introduction of electric and diesel locomotives resulted in the reorganization of repair shops; separate maintenance shops were merged into the association for Railroad Rolling Stock Repair Shops (ZNTK), where, in addition to maintenance, several types of freight and some special cars are produced. There are 19 regional ZNTK's, but it is anticipated that this number will decrease as electrification progresses and the use of steam locomotives decreases.
Containerization has been lagging; however, the government recently launched a program which it hopes will be in full-scale operation by 1980. Plans call for building at least 10 rail container terminals throughout the country. A very important installation is to be built at Łódź to serve the textile and other big industries there.
Five Year Plans through 1980 stress a continued effort to increase long-haul rail traffic. Further electrification and dieselization are planned along with the reconstruction of some lines. The present Five Year Plan (1971-75) calls for an increase of more than 1,000 miles of electrification. Emphasis is also placed on modernizing classification yards, extending the use of automatic block signaling, and installing centralized switch controls on main lines and in yards.
Projects now underway and future main-line improvements include constructing and electrifying the Lokow-Pilawa stretch on the Terespol-Poznan line and building a "Central Arterial Route" connecting Silesia and Warsaw via Zawiercie, Radom, and Pilawa.
D. Highways (S)
Highway transport in Poland has expanded considerably in recent years. Although used primarily for short-haul freight and passenger services, its increased usage reflects the significance of highway transport to the nation's economy. In 1971, highways transported 1,080.3 million short tons of freight, more than double the amount hauled in 1965; in 1971 also, 12.2 billion short-ton-miles were achieved, representing a 46% increase over the 1965 figure. Principal goods transported were construction materials, foodstuffs, fuel, and light industrial products.
The existing highway network is capable to meeting the current economic needs. However, the overall condition of the system is assessed as poor because of inferior surfacing of some main roads and the predominance of local roads built to inadequate construction standards. Through military movement would thus be confined to the main north-south and east-west routes.
The network is adequately distributed throughout the country. It is densest in the western regions and in the industrial areas of the southwest. The overall density is 1.5 miles of highway per square mile, compared with 0.92 in Czechoslovakia and 0.70 in East Germany.
The Polish highway system totals approximately 190,095 miles, 39,700 of which are classified as state or national routes. These are the main through routes which connect Warsaw, the capital, with all the large cities, key military and industrial areas, as well as with border crossing points to all adjacent countries. Most national routes are paved (Figure 2) and in good condition. A breakdown of the highway mileage of surface types is as follows:
- Concrete, bituminous, cobblestone, stoneblock: 40,389
- Crushed stone, gravel: 39,479
- Earth (including unimproved): 110,227
Highway surface widths range from 10 to 48 feet. Most main routes are 18 to 24 feet wide, but approaches to the more important cities have widths up to 36 feet and sections of the ex-German autobahn system are divided highways with two 24-foot-wide surfaces. Local routes generally have gravel, crushed-
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- ↑ Includes 30,000 units having four or more axles.
