The President of the Office of Rail Transport (Pol. Urząd Transportu Kolejowego, UTK) has granted LEO Express Global a.s. open access for passenger railway transfers on the route crossing the Republic of Poland for an international return route Praha hl. n. - Medyka - Polish state border.
Based on the UTK President's decision the carrier will be allowed to operate 4 pairs of trains a day. The planned stop-off stations of these trains in Poland are as follows: Zebrzydowice, Pszczyna, Tychy, Katowice Ligota, Katowice, Mysłowice, Jaworzno Szczakowa, Trzebinia, Krzeszowice, Kraków Główny, Bochnia, Tarnów, Dębica, Rzeszów Główny, Przeworsk, Przemyśl Główny and Medyka.
The open access was granted, as requested in the carrier's application, for the period between 11 December 2019 - 10 December 2024.
During the administrative proceedings the President of UTK had received applications from other railway carriers with regard to the examination of economic balance of the public service contracts for this route in comparison to LEO Express's application. The examination's result has however shown that opening of the services by LEO Express will not endanger the economic balance of contracts already in effect.
The decision however includes a series of clauses, which aim at assuring that the granted right to hold railway operations will be executed in line with information presented in the carrier's application, and at the same time will not endanger railway operations conducted as based upon the public service contracts.
In this regard the decision indicates that the transfers, which LEO Express intends to hold, are supposed to supplement the transfer offer of public service contract holders. Such transfers may not limit or block the possibilities of starting railway operations, which are of importance to national economy and social interest. The decision also determines that the carrier conduct the operations with frequency and on the complete route as applied for in the carrier's application. The carrier may only withhold operations when the lack of possibility of railway operations is the result of circumstances beyond the carrier's control.
The text of the decision may be viewed in the official journal of the President of UTK (Polish version only).