Wpływ pandemii COVID-19 na polski sektor kolejowy

The aim of the paper is to show the changes in the Polish railway sector related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It presents the statistical perspective of the changes concerning passenger transport and cargo shipments as well as legislative changes related to the adoption of the so-called Covid Acts influencing the railway transport sector. The analysis includes institutional and legal solutions included in the Act of 2 March 2020 on specific solutions related to the prevention of, counteracting and combating COVID-19, other infectious diseases and the crises caused by them (Dz.U. (Journal of Laws) item 374, as amended) and in the Act of 16 April 2020 on specific support instruments related to the spread of SARS-CoV-2 (Dz.U. (Journal of Laws) item 695, as amended). The discussion included, among other things, the influence of the state of the COVID-19 epidemic on administrative proceedings before the President of the Office of Rail Transport. Another issue concerned the proposals of changes in the regulations in relation to the state of epidemic put forward by the Office of Rail Transport. The paper presents the results of the author’s own research involving an email interview with Mr. Marcin Trela, Director of the Legal Department of the Office of Rail Transport. Provisions of the law and official documents serve as the main plane for the discussion. The following methods were applied in the study: examination of the law in force, analysis and synthesis. The legal solutions introduced should be viewed as credit-worthy, however, the constantly changing situation leads to new amendments. Proceeding with new solutions too fast leads to many inconsistencies and problems with the application of the improvements introduced.