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Several major changes were introduced into Polish rail transport law in 2009. As it is often the case with legislative changes of recent years, most of the amendments were inspired by European law. The transposition deadlines for several major directives passed in 2009 accompanied by the entry into force of some key EU regulations in the area of rail transport. The long awaited amendments relating to the liability of railway undertakings and insurance obligations relating to passengers, their luggage and train delays were finally introduced in 2009. At the same time, railway undertakings were very concerned with the implementation of Directive 2007/58/EC2 introducing infrastructure access rights for rail carriers from other Member States in relation to international passenger services. ; Michał Mijal

Polish rail transport law did not overcome such important amendments in 2010 as in 2009. There was a lengthy amendment act transposing several directives supposed to be enacted in 2010, which is unfortunately still proceeded by the Polish Parliament. The act transposes Directive 2008/57/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 on the interoperability of the rail system within the Community1, Commission Directive 2009/131/EC of 16 October 2009 amending Annex VII to Directive 2008/57/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the interoperability of the rail system within the Community2 and Directive 2008/110/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 amending Directive 2004/49/EC on safety on the Community's railways. ; Michał Mijal

Most amendments of the Polish rail transport law in 2011 concerned the organisation of rail transport including: improvements in timetable changing procedures; mechanisms to ensure the observance and early publication of timetables; interoperability of the rail system and; certification of train drivers. Introduced were also some changes meant to restructure the incumbent state rail operator (in Polish: Polskie Koleje Państwowe; hereafter PKP). The short, but important, amendment of the Act on Commercialization, Restructuring and Privatization of state enterprise 'PKP' seeks to guarantee the independence from railway operators of the personnel of the infrastructure manager (in Polish: PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe; hereafter PKP PKL). The rail infrastructure manager's lack of autonomy was one of the Commission's allegations against Poland in the case C-512/10 which is yet to be decided by the Court of Justice of the European Union. The Polish case is analogues to other cases filed by the Commission concerning the incompatibility of Member States' laws with the first EU railway package (C-473/10 Commission v. Hungary, C-483/10 Commission v. Spain, C-555/10 Commission v. Austria, C-556/10 Commission v. Germany, C-545/10 Commission v. Czech Republic, C-627/10 Commission v. Slovenia, C-625/10 Commission v. France). ; Michał Mijal

The creation of a single European railway area is the overall policy objective of the European Union for the railway industry. Rail infrastructure management is seen as a natural monopoly to be operated at a national scale. Competition is possible downstream in the provision of rail transport services. A European-wide market of rail transport services would benefit from larger economies of scale, and competition would ensure such efficiencies are passed down to European citizens and businesses. However, the reform process has been set back by Member States that disagree with the full vertical separation of infrastructure management and transport service provision, as well as by Member States that want to delay the full liberalization of the industry. As a consequence, inconsistent national models are emerging and non-sustainable asymmetries between Member States are creating tensions. The Fourth Railway Package is the opportunity to conclude the European railway reform process, both for commercial services and for public contract services. Imaginative solutions are necessary to reach a workable consensus.

Between 1960 and the mid-1970s, rail transport labored under siege and retreated on virtually all major fronts. Attacks and conquests by road, air, water, and pipeline transport were relentless and significant. After 1970, intercity rail passenger service was snatched from the brink of extinction and rehabilitated with government assistance. However, full realization of its latent potential for meeting travel demands and providing broader public benefits has been hampered by weak and inconsistent political will. Intra-urban rail passenger movement has grown at both ends of its technological spectrum: commuter rail, and street railway in the form of light rail. Intercity rail freight service has survived inadequate profitability and major bankruptcies. Aided by changes in regulation, it has proven capable of meeting the tests of the private marketplace. The emerging megamergers of the 1990s pose challenges for customer service and the future course of regulatory policy.

The article presents themethodology proposalof comprehensive evaluation of the providedservices quality inregional passenger rail transport. The proposed methodology of the quality evaluation can be used for comparing the integrated transport systems by the quality level. It can be utilized as an evaluation of the provided services in the relationship with the submitter and the supplier as well. The methodologyproposal fully accept the transport policy of the EU, specifically the White Paper 2011 – The Roadmap to a Single European Transportation Area - Towards a competitive and Resourceful efficient transport system, that are also included in the quality norms and transportation operational programme in Horizon 2020.