WARSAW, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- About 70 percent of PKP Intercity trains were delayed by noon on Friday, with the average delay reaching 37 minutes, the Polish passenger rail operator said on X, as train drivers staged a nationwide protest over safety concerns at level crossings.
The Train Drivers Union in Poland launched this action at midnight. Participating drivers reduced their speed to no more than 20 km per hour when approaching and passing through level crossings. The protest, initially planned to last 24 hours, was later shortened to end at noon.
The protest was triggered by a serious rail accident in the central Polish province of Mazowieckie on Wednesday. A train carrying about 120 passengers from Lublin in eastern Poland to Szczecin in the northwest collided with a truck that had entered a level crossing, causing several carriages to derail. One passenger was killed, and several others were injured.
Safety at Poland's level crossings has come under growing scrutiny. PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe (PKP PLK), Poland's national railway network manager, said 130 accidents and collisions occurred at level crossings and pedestrian crossings in the first eight months of 2026, six more than in the same period last year. The incidents left 34 people dead and 18 seriously injured. ■
