Poland accelerates national drive to remove rail crossings

Poland is pressing ahead with a long-term national effort to eliminate thousands of railway level crossings, replacing them with bridges, underpasses and upgraded signalling as part of a broader rail safety and capacity push backed by European funds.

A strategic shift in rail safety policy

Publicly available information shows that Poland has made the reduction of at-grade rail crossings a core element of its transport policy, embedding these investments in the updated National Railway Programme to 2030 with a perspective to 2032. The programme, overseen at state level and implemented by infrastructure manager PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe, prioritises grade separation works wherever traffic volumes and accident risk are highest.

Rail safety documents and technical regulations circulated in recent months indicate a clear objective to cut the density of crossings on busy lines, where Poland currently records a shorter average spacing between crossings than the European Union average. Draft regulatory changes highlight the need to limit new at-grade intersections and favour bridges or tunnels when lines are modernised or upgraded for higher speeds.

According to EU and national reporting on the country’s recovery and resilience plan, rail safety projects financed since 2021 explicitly include the upgrading or replacement of level crossings, reflecting a shift toward designing them out of the network over time rather than relying solely on barriers, lights and enforcement.

European funds drive large-scale grade separation

Financing for the elimination of level crossings is closely tied to European Union support. Cohesion policy instruments, the Connecting Europe Facility and Poland’s National Recovery Plan all channel resources into projects where road and rail intersect, particularly along core trans-European corridors and export routes.

Project summaries under the National Recovery Plan describe rail investments aimed at removing “bottlenecks” and increasing capacity, with grade-separated junctions and modernised crossing equipment listed among key outputs. In practice, this means that when heavily used freight or passenger corridors are rebuilt, existing at-grade crossings are either removed, consolidated or replaced by bridges and underpasses wherever technically and financially feasible.

Recent funding decisions under EU transport calls also support Polish schemes on strategic routes such as Rail Baltica and links toward Baltic Sea ports and eastern borders. In these projects, grade-separated road-rail intersections are presented as essential for accommodating more and faster trains while meeting EU road safety targets and improving conditions for international freight flows.

From warning systems to complete removal

Parallel to the push for physical grade separation, Poland continues to modernise remaining crossings through advanced signalling and protection systems. Industry announcements in 2024 describe multi-stage contracts titled “Improving safety at level crossings,” which include replacing older automatic devices with modern barriers, lights and remote monitoring tied into traffic control centres.

These modernisation programmes are often described as Stage I or Stage II within broader safety initiatives, signalling an incremental approach. First, the most dangerous or technically suitable locations are targeted for full elimination through overpasses or tunnels; second, crossings that must temporarily remain are equipped with upgraded systems that shorten reaction times and improve visibility for both train drivers and road users.

Data compiled by European rail bodies show that Poland still has a significant number of active level crossings compared with some Western European states, but also record a downward trend in serious accidents as infrastructure, signalling and public awareness campaigns are expanded. This combination of engineering and education is presented in policy documents as a bridge toward an eventual network with far fewer at-grade conflicts.

Urban bottlenecks and high-speed ambitions

Urban nodes and fast intercity corridors have become focal points for eliminating crossings. On lines serving major agglomerations, project descriptions routinely list grade separation works alongside platform upgrades, electrification and signalling renewal. In several high-capacity corridors that radiate from Warsaw and connect to Silesia or the Baltic coast, long-running modernisation programmes have already replaced or rebuilt dozens of crossings.

On legacy main lines originally designed in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, rebuilt sections are being prepared for passenger train speeds of up to 160 kilometres per hour or more, according to published technical information. At these speeds, design guidelines leave little room for at-grade intersections, encouraging planners to remove crossings altogether or reroute local roads.

In parallel, new-build strategic projects such as the emerging integrated rail network linked with the planned Central Transport Hub place grade separation as a default assumption. Planning material for these schemes describes a consistent approach in which lines intersect with roads only on different levels, aligning Polish practice with newer high-speed networks elsewhere in Europe.

Regional lines and community impact

The national programme also reaches beyond flagship corridors to regional and local routes, where many of Poland’s remaining level crossings are located. Initiatives such as the “Kolej Plus” complementary rail infrastructure programme and various voivodeship-level projects include the upgrading of secondary lines, often with specific tasks for modernising or consolidating crossings.

Regional authorities that have taken over disused or underused lines have increasingly specified higher safety standards for renewed traffic, including upgraded crossing protection or, where justified by traffic and terrain, the construction of small overpasses. These works are presented as part of efforts to restore passenger services, reduce car dependency and support local development while raising safety to national norms.

Local communities are directly affected by these changes. While the closure of some at-grade crossings can lengthen journeys for drivers, project documentation typically argues that consolidating several low-standard crossings into a single grade-separated junction reduces overall risk and supports smoother traffic flow. Over time, the expectation described in planning papers is that residents will benefit from both safer roads and more reliable rail services.