According to unaudited data, state-controlled rail firm PKP Intercity had a net loss of zł.9.2 million in 2012, compared to a loss of zł.22.4 million in 2011, the company's management board member Paweł Hordyński said.

The number of passengers fell by about 600,000 to 30.5 million last year. Mr Horodyński said that PKP Intercity will probably record a loss in 2013. If conditions prove to be unfavorable, the loss may amount to as much as zł.100 million. A net profit may be expected in 2014 at the earliest, he added.

CEO Janusz Malinowski said that PKP Intercity had negative results mostly because of maintenance activities on railroads, which made timetable changes necessary. Last year the company changed its timetables 12,000 times. Mr Malinowski added that the number of passengers fell due to falling GDP growth, the construction of new roads and a stabilization of gasoline prices, which had been previously rising.

Poland A.M.