RegioJet said on Thursday it was ending its domestic operations in Poland and would return only if the market offered what it called fair and transparent conditions for all rail operators.
The move means the company will stop running its Kraków to Warsaw to Gdynia service, as well as its Poznań to Warsaw route, from May 3.
Its international services from Przemyśl and Warsaw to Prague will continue.
Passengers with bookings for canceled domestic trains after May 3 will be notified by SMS or email. RegioJet said full refunds would be issued by April 15 using the original method of payment, and passengers would also be able to apply for compensation of PLN 100 (EUR 23, USD 28).
The Czech carrier entered the Polish market last year, but it never fully launched all the services it had planned for December.
RegioJet said one reason was a shortage of train drivers supplied by an outside contractor.
In its statement, the company accused PKP Intercity, Poland’s state long-distance rail operator, of trying to squeeze it out of the market.
RegioJet said its station advertising campaign had been halted and that it had been unable to open ticket sales points at stations controlled by PKP S.A., the parent company of the PKP group.
RegioJet also said PKP Intercity had cut ticket prices by as much as 70 percent after its arrival in Poland, describing that as predatory pricing intended to eliminate a new competitor.
PKP Intercity rejected the allegations.
In an initial response, it said it had taken no steps to restrict competition and had no authority over access to rail infrastructure or the allocation of train paths, which are handled by an independent infrastructure manager and the market regulator.
The company said it remained open to fair competition and dialogue based on reliable information and respect for the facts. It also said its pricing policy complies with Polish law and market standards, and that its standard fare table has not changed since 2022.
PKP S.A. said separately that RegioJet’s withdrawal was a business decision for which the Czech carrier’s own management was fully responsible. It said attempts to blame the PKP group for RegioJet’s failure in the Polish market were unfair to passengers and contrary to the facts.
The company added that rail operators across the European Union work under the same rules, and said RegioJet had tried to build its business in Poland without securing its own train drivers, technical base or a solid market analysis.
The dispute comes days after Poland’s Office of Rail Transport said RegioJet had violated passengers’ collective interests by failing to launch the trains it had planned for 2025. The regulator can impose a fine of up to 2 percent of the company’s annual revenue.
(rt/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP