DEVELOPMENT OF RAIL TRANSPORTATION IN POLAND MAIN OBJECTIVES IN SIX-YEAR PLAN FOR TRANSPORTATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700200030-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 31, 2011
• Sequence Number: 30
• Publication Date: August 13, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

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CLASSIFICATION C-O-N-F-I-D-E-N-T-I-A-L
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
DATE OF
INFORMATION
1922-1955
SUBJECT
HOW
Economic
- Transportation, railroads,
development
DATE DIST. /3
Aug 1954
PUBLISHED
WHERE
PUBLISHED
Monograph
Warsaw
NO. OF PAGES
7
DATE
PUBLISHED
1952
LANGUAGE
Polish
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
Komunikacja Kole owa w Planie 6-1.etnim (Railroad Transportation in
the Six-Year Plan
DEVELOPMENT OF RAIL TRANSPORTATION IN POLAND;
MAIN OBJECTIVES IN SIX-YEAR PLAN FOR TRANSPORTATION
Leon Gehorsam
Master of Eng
[The following report gives information on passenger and freight
transportation in Poland. The information was abstracted from the
monograph Komunikacja Kolejowa w Planie 6-Letnim (Railroad Transpor-
tation in the Six-Year Plan . The report outlines the over-all de-
velopment of Polish railroads since the end of World War II with
part4cular emphasis on the Three-Year Plan (1947-1949), and the main
objectives of the Six-Year Plan (1950-1955) for transportation.]
RAILROAD RECONSTRUCTION FROM 1945-1949
During World War II 46 percent of all bridges, 37 percent of buildings,
43 percent of pumping facilities (pompownie), and 11,864 kilometers of tracks
were destroyed in Poland.
By 31 December 1945 the Poles reconstructed, either permanently or tem-
porarily, 47 percent of all the destroyed bridges; 3,300 kilometers of tracks;
2.918,000 cubic meters of buildings; and 24 percent of the pumping facilities.
Train traffic by 1946 was running regularly on 88 percent of all the railroad
lines.
In 1946 the Polish Railroads transported 244.9 million passengers, or
33.7 million more passengers than in the highest prewar year of 1937. Also
in 1946 72.8 million tons of freight was transported, or 5.8 million tons more
than in 1937.
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During the period of the Three-Year Plan, the railroads transported 334.2
million tons of freight, which was almost as much as that transported by the
PKP (Polskie Koleje Panstwowe, Polish State Railroads) from 1932 to 1937 in-
clusive. During the Three-Year Plan the railroads transported 1,165,200,000
passengers, almost as many as during the 1931-1937 period.
In Poland during the period of the Three-Year Plan freight volume in-
creased 58.5 percent whereas the number of freight cars increased only 11.8
percent.
MAIN OBJECTIVES IN SIX-YEAR PLAN FOR TRANSPORTATION
The Six-Year Plan anticipates 84 percent increase of freight volume and
90.5 percent increase of passenger transportation on standard-gauge tracks.
On narrow-gauge tr ..s freight volume is to increase by 76.5 percent during
this period and passenger volume by 45 percent, as compared to 1949.
The following ',les give some idea of the increase in freight and pas-
senger operations on Polish railroads.
Year
Million Tons
.
Year
Million Tons
1922
42.6
-1935
56.2
1923
75.4
1936
1924
57.8
59.96
1937
1925
58.0 58.0
1946
67.o
1926
64.4
1947
1927
73-4
1948
114.3
1928
80.7
1949
131.7
1929
85.86
1950
150.5
1930
695
1951
170
1931
63.9
1952
195 (planned)
1932
48.7
1953
210
la
(
1933
48
8
nned)
p
.
1954
230 (planned)
1934
;P.,,3
1955
245 (planned)
Passenger and Freight Volume (per Inhabitant)
v
Year
Poland
1929
Passengers
5.3
Tons of freight
2.44
1937
Passengers
6.2
Tons of freight
2.14
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Passenger and Freight Volume
Year
1949 Passengers
Tone of freight
1950 Passengers
Tons of freight
1955 Passengers
Tons of freight
er Inhabitant
Poland
18.4
5.44
22.6
6.03
3~.13*
8.42
*Initial estimate for the Six-Year Plan
Volume of Freight Transports in Thousands of
Ton-Kilometers per One Kilometer of Operating
Railroad Network
Year
Poland
1928
1,274
1937
1,216
1949
1,470
1950
1,580
1955
2,420 (anticipated)
Freight Car iufnaround
Freight car turnaround is a fundamental factor in railroad operations. An
analysis of car turnaround time discloses that 51 percent of the time is spent
while the car stands at the dispatch station (stacje rozrzadowe), 22 percent
is spent at the mediate stations (posredne stacje tL-hn'czne), 11 percent is
spent at loading and unloading, and only 16 percent of the time is spent on
train runs.
This time factor can be improved upon by decreasing standing time at dis-
patch stations and at the mediate stations, by decreasing time for loading and
unloading, and by decreasing the time of a car trip i.e., increasing the train
speeds, eliminating unnecessarily long turnaround transports, and eliminating
trips of loose cars.
During the period of the Three-Year Plan the car turnaround time was de-
creased by 48 hours as compared with November 1946, the month of the highest
volume of transports for that year. As compared with 1938, the turnaround
time was decreased by 24 hou-s.
During the Three-Year Plan period the turnaround time of a car, i.e., the
time between loads for the same car, was decreased by 0.39 percent. Due to
this, the loading index (1946 equals 100) stood at 174.3 in 1949. Parallel
with the decreased station layover time and increased train speed, the daily
run of a freight car was increased. The daily run of a freight car in 1949
was greater than during the prewar period.
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The improvement of car turnaround time in November 1949 amounted to only
2.5 hours as compared to November 1948. It is expected that the further im-
provement of the car turnaround time will be increasingly less, although the
Six-Year Plan anticipates a reduction of turnaround time by 30 hours.
By 1955 freight transport by rail will reach 242 million tons, or an av-
erage daily load of 665,000 tons. The decrease of car turnaround time in the
network by one day would be the same as freeing 665,000 tons of goods for pro-
duction. Since the value of one ton of freight transpnrtae, by rail on average
amounts to 520.98 zlotys, the liberation of 665,000 tons signtfiei an economic
transfer to the national economy of material goods valued at 3 ,,6,253,700 zlotys.
Uneconomical transports must also be eliminated. For example during the
first three quarters of 1950, 587,573 car-hours, or 4,350 car-turnarounds were
lost because of forwarding errors. All this space could have been used for
transporting other freight. In addition the clients had to pay 8,140,000
zlotys for the reshipped goods and these unnecessary additional trips used up
2,104,526 car-kilometers.
Decreased Time for Loading and Unloading
Although loading and unloading time amounts to only 11 percent of the
turnaround time of a car, it is still possible to reduce this time. Time
wasted at the loading, unloading, or transloading stops amounted to 10,181,213
car-hours, during the first half of 1950; this is equivalent to a loss of
75,500 cars capable of transporting 1,380,000 tons of freight.
Decreasing the Trip Time of a Train
This can be achieved by working faster on loading and unloading, by de-
creasing the atop periods and eliminating unnecessary stops of a train, and by
increasing the train speed. During the Six-Year Plan Poland anticipates an
increase in speed of freight trains by 20 percent. The prewar traffic speed
of a train was surpassed in 1949 by 4.3 percent.
Increasing the Number of Cars by Reducing Damage to Cars
The number of cars taken from service for repairs should drop from 18 per-
cent in 1949 to 6 percent in 1955.
Better Utilization of the Loading Capacity of a Car
During 1949, due to the increase of the average car load by 0.1 ton, the
Polish railroads transported an additional 755,042 tons of freight on the same
rolling stock, and practically without any additional costs. To transport
this amount it would have been necessary to use 43,393 cars, or 86o trains
with locomotives.
During the Six-Year Plan Poland anticipates an 18 percent increase in the
average car load. In order to fulfill this task, the railroads will receive
4-axle freight cars of a larger loading capacity. The total number of 4-axle
cars will increase by 150 percent.
Improved Use of Locomotives
During the Six-Year Plan Poland anticipates a considerable improvement in
the efficiency of locomotive service. Consequently the plan for 1955 does not
anticipate an increase in the total number of locomotives as compared to 1949.
At the same time Poland plans to increase the number of "healthy" locomotives
by 8.6 percent and the number of operating, locomotives by 15.2 percent. The
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increase in freight traffic in 1955 can be accomplished only by increasing the
initherdaily runaofharlocomotive ein freightitrafficcnis anticipated. increase
Railroad Construction
During the Six-Year Plan Poland expects to complete 733 new kilometers of
track and to start construction of an additional 210 kilometers of track. Dur-
ing the same period 369 kilometers of single-track lines and 645 kilometers of
double-track lines, destroyed during the war, will be rebuilt. In addition
326 kilometers of new double-track will be built on existing lines. During
the period of the Six-Year Plan the total length of railroad lines will in-
crease by 4.5 percent. This over-all increase includes a 27.2 percent increase
in double-track lines.
From 1918 to 1938, 1,650 kilometers of new railroad lines were built in
Poland and 320 kilometers of double-track was added to single-track lines.
This means that, on the average, 82.5 kilometers of new lines and 16 kilo-
meters of double-track were built annually during this period. On the other
hand, during the Six-Year Plan Poland will construct annually about 122 kilo-
meters of new lines and 54 kilometers of double track, and in addition will an-
nually rebuild about 61.5 kilometers of single-track lines and 107.5 kilometers
of double-track lines.
Technical Progress
During the Six-Year Plan mechanization of coal car unloading will increase
35 percent, and the degree of mechanization for loading coal on locomotives
will increase 21 percent. The number of locomotives equipped with mechanical
fuel stokers will increase by 350 units.
During the Six-Year Plan much progress will be made in standardizing the
locomotive rolling stock. In 1949 Poland had 95 types of locomotives. By 1955
the number of types will be reduced to 50 by eliminating the old and uneconomi-
cal types and by replacing them with new types of locomotives. In addition
long-range plans have been developed for locomotive construction wherein there
will' be only 6 types for all of PKP. The main parts of the locomotives will
be standardized in these types. There will be only 3 types of cylinders, 3
sizes of piston strokes, and 2 types of boiler racks.
During the Six-Year Plan the freight rolling stock will be considerably
modernized. Poland will begin large scale construction of large capacity, 4-
axle coal cars. The number of these cars will increase by 400 percent. Simul-
taneously couplings will be strengthened to withstand a 90 ton load and coup-
ling draw hooks to withstand 100 tons, and even 110 tons. This applies to all
the new cars and partly to cars now in use.
The use of larger brake cylinders and the increase by 45 percent in the
number of cars supplied with a continuous braking, will enable the speed of all
freight trains to be increased.
During the Six-Yeas Plan, all the larger locomotive sheds will be equipped
with coal loading and unloading ladle cranes, and with "self-unloading" cars.
Poland anticipates during the Six-Year Plan considerable progress in load-
ing and unloading techniques, Car loading and unloading will be mechanized at
115 stations, both at the general loading tracks and at sidings. Loading and
unloading will be mechanized at the stations for coal., gravel, stone,lime,
grain, potatoes, artificial fertilizers, long pieces of iron, concrete products,
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ore, wood, gypsum, etc. The above-mentioned stations and sidings will be
equipped with loading ramps, self-unloading conveyers, gantry cranes, con-
veyers with mechanical scoops, masting cranes, mobile cranes, electric cars,
fork cars, mechanical shovels, conveyer belts, electric pulleys, c.
During the Six-Year Plan the length of the re.il lines equipped with elec-
tromechanical line blocks will increase by 68 percent as compared to 1949. The
main lines will be completely equipped with electromechanical line blocks, and
the first class lines will be 90 percent equipped.
During the Six-Year Plan Poland plans to construct lines to test auto-
matic block signaling with the signals repeated in the locomotive engineer's
cab and connected with automatic braking, or the so-called cab signaling sys-
tem. By the application of the cab signaling syster,. .,land will attain prac-
tically 100 percent traffic safety.
During the Six-Year Plan the stations equipped with station block systems
will increase by 31 percent. Thus the total number of stations equipped with
station block systems will amount to 77 percent of the total number of sta-
tions. This means that all the stations on the main lines and all the branch
stations on the first-class lines will be equipped with station block systems..
Poland anticipates during the Six-Year Plan an increasa of 36 percent in
telecommunications cable lines and of 15 percent in overhead lines. The in-
crease in the number of telephones and the number of switchboards on the rail-
road system will amount to 35 percent. By the third year of the Plan Poland's
rail system telephone network will be equivalent to that of the Swedish rail-
road system. The number of automatic telephone centers and the telephones will
increase considerably.
Narrow-Gauge Railroads
During the Six-Year Plan freight transport on narrow-gauge rai: lines will
increase 75.5 percent, and passenger transport will increase 44.6 percent; the
narrow-gauge railroad network will increase nearly 15 percent, the number of
freight cars 75 percent, the number of passenger cars 4 percent, and the num-
ber?of locomotives 8 percent. In order to fulfill the tasks set for narrow-
gauge railroad transportation it is necessary to reduce car turnaround time by
20 percent, increase the number of "healthy" freight cars by 14 percent, in-
crease the number of "healthy" passenger cars by 25.6 percent, and increase the
number of "healthy" locomotives by 13.9 percent.
The workers of +r,z: narrow-gauge railroad lines should increase the daily
run of locomotives by 21 percent, and the speed of trains by 12 percent.
During the Six-Year Plan Poland will construct 300 kilometers of new nar-
row-gauge lines. Also 34 kilometers of lines will be rebuilt, and 700 kilo-
meters of narrow-gauge lines will be changed to a span of 750 millimeters,
which will. make ft possible to strengthen the road surface and use heavy roll-
'ng etoch. Apparatus for softening water will be set up at 11 of the narrow-
gauge rail stations?
In addition to the engineers and technicians graduated from higher tech-
nical schools during the Six-Year Plan, Poland expects to graduate 10,825
railroad workers from 258 first-class vocational courses, and 2,700 railroad
workers from 63 second-class vccational courses. During the Six-Year Plan
Poland expects to graduate 265 students from two advanced academic courses.
The latter would include workers chosen for the engineering profession.
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For the purpose of raising the professional qualifications of all the
railroad workers, Poland anticipates that during the Six-Year Plan 2,166
courses will be started, which would affect a total of 97,468 students.
Conclusion
In order to fulfill the transport tasks of the Six-Year Plan the railroad
workers should!
1. Decrease the freight car turnaround time, increase the use of car-
loading capacities, eliminate duplication in use of cars and excessively short
transports, decrease the runs of empty cars, and campaign for regularity of
transports.
2. Improve locomotive management by lengthening the daily run of loco-
motives, and emulate the Soviet "Five Hundreders" locomotive engineers by
interrelating the daily run of a locomotive with the increased load and speed
of a train.
3. Continuously and corsistently campaign to maintain full regularity
of schedules,
4. Completely fulfill the investment plans.
5. Utilize assembly work methods, organize the repair of rolling stock
by fully utilizing railroad shop machinery, and scrupulously enforce the plan
for major repairs of track and equipment in order to insure the safety of
train traffic.
6. Develop workers in a more extensive field, i.e., raise their profes-
sional qualifications and level of political indoctrination.
7. Widely develop work competition and the raionalizers' movement, and
thus increase the regular work output and decrease the real costs of production.
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