A NEW open-access freight operator began revenue services in Poland on September 1, when Freightliner Poland Ltd began moving coal from Bogdanka mine to Kozienice power station.

FPL has assembled a fleet of seven Class 66 locomotives and 432 wagons, and signed a track access agreement with infrastructure manager PLK on May 25 giving it rights to operate across the entire Polish network.

The contract covers the operation of three or four trains a day, each formed of 47 wagons carrying 2 770 tonnes of coal, giving a gross train weight of 3 900 tonnes.

On August 23 private operator PCC Rail announced that it had signed an agreement to buy a majority stake in PTKiGK Rybnik. In 2006 PCC Rail handled 1·4 billion tonne-km, giving it a 2·6% share of the Polish rail freight market, compared to 814 million tonne-km and 1·5% for PTKiGK Rybnik.