APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200070025-1
Transportation and Telecommunications
A. Appraisal (S)
The transportation and telecommunications (telecom) systems of Poland, despite qualitative deficiencies, are generally adequate for the national economy. Poland's geographic position in the northern European plain makes its main transportation lines especially significant for transit military and economic movement between the U.S.S.R. and East Germany; also, the arterial north-south routes provide Czechoslovakia and Hungary access to the Baltic Sea. All of the transportation systems are government owned and operated.
The overall transportation complex is marked by a concentration of facilities in the western part of the country, largely the result of historical events that determined Poland's boundaries. The poorly integrated and unevenly distributed rail network was established after World War I from portions of three distinct railroad systems. The western region, formerly held by Germany, is served by a dense rail system having numerous connections and alternate routings but oriented primarily toward Berlin rather that toward an all-Polish network. The central and eastern areas, formerly held by Austria and Russia, have comparatively sparse and underdeveloped systems comprising a few major lines radiating from Warsaw to principal rail centers in the west and to the frontiers in the east. Highways, like the railroads, are better developed in the ex-German territory in the west, and are of lesser quality and density in the central and eastern areas once occupied by Austria and the U.S.S.R.
The rail, highway, and inland waterway systems provide international connections with all adjacent countries; pipeline connections are made only with the U.S.S.R. and East Germany.
Railroads are the chief long-haul freight carriers. The standard-gage system is compatible with those of East Germany and Czechoslovakia but requires transloading facilities at connections with the broad-gage system of the Soviet railroads except on tow lines where standard-gage and broad-gage trucks for special passenger cars are exchanged. Highway transport is used primarily in short-haul service and has been growing in importance. The inland waterways, although reflecting a relatively small contribution in the overall transportation effort, are nevertheless an important long-haul bulk-carrier supplement to the overworked railroads. Pipelines are a significant complementary facility to the other surface transportation modes; the major pipeline is part of the Council for Economic Mutual Assistance (CEMA) international system which carries most of the country's crude-oil imports in addition to transit shipments destined for the Schwedt refinery in East Germany.
Of the almost 1,529 million short tons hauled by the three major transport modes in 1971, highways accounted for 70.6% of the total as compared with 28.6% for railroads and 0.8% for inland waterways; in terms of ton-mile performance, the railroads produced 83.9% of the total, highways 14.3%, and waterways 1.8%.
The growing merchant fleet of 252 commerical ships of 1,000 gross register tons and over operates on
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200070025-1
