DETERIORATION OF THE POLISH RAILWAYS - MORALE, SERVICE, ROLLING STOCK/ DUTIES OF THE RAILWAY POLICE (SOK)/ PRODUCTION OF ROLLING STOCK FOR EXPORT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000500050047-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 5, 2003
• Sequence Number: 47
• Publication Date: May 28, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATIOK REPORT
COUNTRY leolaad
SUBJECT Deterioration of the Polish Railways _ Morale,^Ser"ice,
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DATE
DISTR. a
May 1953
NO.
OF PAGES 5
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OF ENCLS.
SUPP. TO
REPORT NO.
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THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
1. "Since auttum 1952 the Polish railway system has entered a critical period. The
following observations are dated January 19?.3 and earlier.
2. "Many reports indicate that the working capacity and morale of railway personnel,
maintuiaed - despite adverse conditinaa -Ion a fairly even keel during the first
years after World War II, has finally paehed the endurance point and is sharply
decrnesing. The in rtasonsfor this breakdown are the continuous overwork and
undernourishasrnt of the vo:?kors.
3. "lioports speak of increasing carelessness everywhere, neceositatiag the checking
and double-checking of all work performed This decline in reliability and quality
vurk is particulwrly noticeable is the servicing and maintoaanas of engines, rolling
stock and other equipmsat. It is known ,for instance, that on Naar lines two stokers
instead of one are now asai'*asd to each lpcomotive. Such aituatioss contribute to
tt,e general shortage of trained manpower on the Polish railways. It hits the recruit-
=at and training of yeur.6 van who one da ?411 be called upon to replace present
personnel.
I:. '!?nilvlt,Y employese contend thst the anti traffic is now Maintained almost exclusively
by the older personnel who have pre-World War II training and experience. Most of
e.rn s`v between 50 Art 6c years of ge. It is just these eMployews who rot-.t
mu_t ;,trcagly to the dotortoraUd living standards and who are the most unreliable
politically. The now Stakhanov nrthodc and Socialist competitions arc more agreeable
ARmIDIo tnntoawa auuvu. ?1.?. ... 1.. ,....... ..---1 -----
11:'111t11attng ulttau Ghreugh the AJ1Ytstattt L)III'O r of the (11th'' of culinntlon and D oou' lllnattur, t'lA.
ry~~T~n
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t. the less skilled bu+physically stronger type of worker, who, under the new system
is (~ftan promoted to a higher position without having the necessary qualifications.
"".ne!result of this breakdown is that mo.ny train schedules are no longer kept. This
is true of most passenger and freight trains. Long-distance trains are freq.ently
four; or five hours late; OK on such lines as Gdynia-Krekov (600 km.). Local trains
on these lines are side-tracked at junctions to met the late long-distance trains
p.stpland thus get behind schedule themselves. There is traffic confusion all over
Poland, eves inlthe central and western districts where up to about summer 1952, train
schedules were usually saintainsd. Apart from othez consequences, such as delayed
deliveries and increases in transportation costs, the confusion creates difficulties
for train and station crews, who are forced to work ovartime coatinuouel.r.
"An'ther reason for the deterioration of railway traffic is that the Polish railways
now get only inferior quality coal, in most cases coal slack- ',Most of the engines
a^! not suitable for stoking with slack; there is usually not enough steam and the
engine capacity cannot be efficiently exploited. Engine defects, partly due to this
bad coal, are frequent. The repair workshops are full of locomotives requiring over-
hauling.
Effect of the Soviet Norm Syntem
7. he Soviet norm system and competitive work methods have been introduced on the
Polish railways. For example, an engine driver gets a premium if he drives his
engine for a certain number of kilometers without repairs. The number of kilometers
v.ries with th-type of engines - for the large freight train locomotives it is
usually 100,000 km. Theoretically the eng_neer also gets a premium for fuel economy.
,,t present, this economy system is meaningless as it is 2mpossib] ? to e--onomize with
coal slack which in itself is not good enough to maintain the efficiency of an engine.
L.gtnes driven with insufficient steam pressure ane more likely to break down than
under normal conditions.
o. 'lost engine drivers have been forced to undertake obligations to drive their engines
for a certain number of kilometers without repairs This makes them conceal minor
defects or tinker with small repairs themselves- According t o engine drivers, their
work is now a constant gamble: 'C..n I risk completion of the set kilometer limit
v,+,h the existing minor defects or patch-up repairs, get the premium and the right
.o turn in the engine for an overhaul - or will such an attempt. result in some
accident or more serious damage to the engine, causing me ti., be dragged before a
Ftlitary Court on charges of sabotage: Within the Gdanck railway management alone
:here were 12 such trials chir August and September 1952.
). "If a; minor engine defect is discovered, the driver Faust pay a cash fine which is
often:las high as his monthly wage. Because of the great responsibility, the premium
and fine system and the threat of being tried and as a saboteur, nobody wants to
become or to remain an engine driver. The old experienced men become fewer each
?.tonth'. In their place come less skilled, hastily trained, young man who influenced by
E.:epaganda are willing to sacrifice dependability to concentrate on competition
.esults. This results in more frequent damage to engines and equipment, in a general
deterioration of facilities and in increasing repairs.
.0. . talked to many Polish railwaymen who had some knowledge of the Soviet railway
!mystem, where engine drivers have to struggle with the same problems. I asked how it
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railways Velure nvr., n%, ", ----- - -- - - -
pre!:-;n%_-;r in Poland should be reyairs3. IIe belisves that the freight wagon situation
is inevitably approachiag a crisis, when so nanny wagon will have to be withdraru
il` calla se
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hive large, modern loading cranes. Most of them have stood idle since
export coal transports was rerouted to 8acsecin.
13. "Lubricating oil is delivered to -r-ha railway depots in very small quantities and is
of extremely low quality. It is said that all better lubricating oil goes to the
USSR. Lots or the oil gets stolen from the depots. The car tenders got so little
the-t they cannot keep the axles in proper condition. Froight t-agons particularly
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was poeeillo fQr the Soviet railways to function at all since the system producing such
badresults 'n Poland had beau in operation in the USSR for years. The replies of
th.-- -t1waymon can be summed up as follows:
(a) As a result of the competitive norm eyeton, the locomotive rem-'urces of the USSR
are more run down than any outsider can imagine.
(b) Soviet railwaymen differ in character from the Poles: They are able to endure much
more in sullen passivity. After passing the critical transition period from the old
system to the new - the period which is now taking place in Poland - they have had
plenty of time to adapt themselves for the strained working conditions.
(c) Moreover, Soviet railway personnel have, with passing time, developed a system
and the solidarity to cheat the authorities. The train crews and office personnel
join hand in hand to make false reports and bypass regulations - and they get away
with it. Developments in Poland have not yet reached this stage. The present respon
sible office personnel are inexperienced. Appointed by the Communists they are eage
to please the regise. They have not yet realised that after the workers, the next
step will be b make the office personnel responsible for the shortcomings in railway.-.
traffic.
Inferior E2eipment and Shortages
11. All equipment delivered to the railways is of Inferior quality, especially the rails
which crack from heat and frost. Derailments are frequent, especially on lines with
hen" i_affic. Along various stretches signs have been put up to yarn the engine'
drim ',a against poor track condittone, advising them to reduce speed. Track walkers
are responsible for the. condition of the rails. Although they submit detailed reports,
the tracks are no. repaired in time because the delivery of rails and such accessories
no sleepers, screws and gravel is delayed. The only thing not in abort supply is'' I
unskilled manpower. But t"' crack repair crews are often idle for days afte_ arrivi
at an assignment because there is no material with which to start work.
12. "The Katowice-Gdynia lins,which is the so-called 'coal line' built in 1933 bj
Schneiden-Creutot, used to be travelled by 25-30:4avy trains consisting of now
50 thirty-ton wagons, every 24 hours. Today the daily number of trains is rat a51S
than four or five, and they run mainly at nigt-t. Railwayman believe that 'it .s aaia17
because of the weakened condition of this line that pert of the export oval tramp"
have been diverted to Bsesocin. It was cheaper to put up a new crs_nw far ca i
in Szczecin than to put the Katowice-Gdynia line In order. both Odansk and ddyaz:-
bulk of,
th
- p
an
'1r:ulation at the same time that the vho.e transport p
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Bydgoszcz Repair Yards
14. "The railway repair workshops in Bydgoszcz are the largest in Poland. They are located
southeast of the., town. There is a large, 6 km long, 'marshalling ' yard, where cars
from all over Poland are collected for repairs. There one can see many cars which were
damcged during World War II and have not yet been repaired. They stand in the open and
rust. Soon most of them will be beyond repair. The Bydgoszcz repair workshops employ
800 workers.
Production of Rolling Stock
15. "There ar^ four important rolling-stock plants in Polard:
- The Stalin Works (former Cegieleki & Co ) in Poznan,
The Stalin Works (former Pafavag) in Wroclav,
- The railway carriage factory in Sanok,
- The railway carriage factory in Rzeszow.
Mostly engines and passenger cars are built in Poznan. The main production of the
Wroclaw plant is Soviet-gauge freight wagons, which rn.n be easily switched from
broad-gauge to narrower European gauge by changing the ''-b.:-frame.
16. "Although a good many new freight cars are being built in Poland, not many can be
observed in Vse on Polish lines. They are exported to the East and are sever seen
again. The new Pullman type coaches, built mainly in Poznan, are also seldom seen.
Crowded Passenger Trains
17. "The state of passenger cars has sharply deteriorated since 1947-48. Almost all the
coaches are terribly dirty and full of vermin. Everything removable has been stolen.
Most of the cars on the lase important lines have not even glass in the wind "vs.
18. "Passenger traffic is intensive, and the trains overcrowded. Since the trains are
constantly behind schedule all stations are permanently full of waiting passengers
The intense traffic is due to the fact that tickets are relaLi.ely cheep. For example,
a ticket from Gdynia to Jelenia Gore, a distance of about 620 km., costs 32 Zl, is
less than the price of 1 kg . utter "n the black market. Moreover, there are few
passenger trains and .,...: existing ones have too few coaches to take all travellers.
There is no attempt to adept the trains to the needs of the ordinary travelling public.
19. "On main lines and long distance trains there are second and third class sleepers,
but tickets for them are sold only in large towns. Only privileged persons travel
by sleeper. Certain trains reserved for international traffic have also first class
coaches. These are very expensive and mostly reserved for diplomats, high officials
and other privileged persons, mostly Soviets. These international trains also have
dining cars, but the prices are about twice as high as in Wareav's smartest restau-
rants.
The 80K (Slusba Ochrony Kaleiowet)
20. The PKP (Polish Railways) have their own police, the Slusba Ochrony KolsJ7wet (80K).
Those awn are posted at all stations. They act as a kind oa' L.ilitary Police, because
rs4.vaymsn are militarised under present Polish law. The 80K also have n dinary police
d.:-ea relating to the passengers and around stations. 80K has a US section with
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23. "It'lis ratter dangerous for a person to enter a railway stationwithout a ticket and
theimacessrry Ldestification docmmAts. Such a parson is likely lto be detained and
questioned. It is sties acre dangerous to bj found at freight stations, particularly
at night. The guards shoot without warning at anything that moves. All persons Who
are caught in freight stationc or marshalling yards at night, without good reason, are
autceatically suspected of sabotage. The authorities have an a].lost hysterical fear
of saboteurs."
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office, at all Sjll stations. These UB sections are controlled by officials of ' he
Soviet railway troops who supervise the safety of Soviet trans7.titrains. These ;Soviet
officials deal minty with technical problems and have direct contact with the Transit
Department of the Railway Ministry in Warsaw. Almost all officials in that department
are Soviets. As of early 1953 these Soviet officials had no political tasks.
21. "Asia rule Soviet trains hays their own police or MP 'a who are responsible for the
trains as they pass throulk Polish territory. At Polish &tations the Soviet super-
visory personnel stationed in Poland and attached to the UB section of the 80K act as
liaison between the Soviet train police and the SOX. Very few Uniformed Soviet railway
policemen can be seen at Polish etatisns. Most of then wear .ivilian clothes.
22. "80K mmbers are amad with automatic rifles, ordinary rifles and platols. One of
their tasks is to help the UB check the documents of train passengers. Because the
trains are avarcrowded, it is practically impossible to do any checking while the
train is in motion .. Consequently it is done at the stations. Under each circumstances
it is always possible to sneak on a train or to dump off without UP control. The UB
knows this, and the railway stations are heavily guarded, often by special ?atrols
with trained dogs.
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