There are hundreds of kilometres of , , , and narrow-gauge lines in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. The

metre-gauge Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, la ...

lines are mostly found in the northwest part of the country in

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

, while lines are found only in the

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located ...

region. is the most commonly used narrow gauge; it is used, for example, in the Rogów Narrow Gauge Railway (Rogowska Kolej Wąskotorowa) and in

Tarnowskie Góry Tarnowskie Góry (German: ''Tarnowitz''; szl, Tarnowske Gōry) is a town in Silesia, southern Poland, located in the Silesian Highlands near Katowice. On the south it borders the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union, a megalopolis, the greater Si ...

with the world's oldest narrow-gauge railway in continuous service since 1853. Some narrow-gauge lines in Poland still operate as

common carrier A common carrier in common law countries (corresponding to a public carrier in some civil law systems,Encyclopædia Britannica CD 2000 "Civil-law public carrier" from "carriage of goods" usually called simply a ''carrier'') is a person or compan ...

(for example the lines operated by SKPL, the Association of Local Railway Haulage), while others survive as tourist attractions. One of the finest of the latter is the narrow-gauge railway (''Żnińska Kolej Powiatowa'') running from

Żnin Żnin (german: Znin, 1941-45: Dietfurt) is a town in north-central Poland with a population of 14,181 (June 2014). It is in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (previously Bydgoszcz Voivodeship) and is the capital of Żnin County. The historical t ...

via

Wenecja Wenecja (Polish for Venice) (german: Venetia) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Żnin, within Żnin County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Żnin and south-west of ...

(Polish ''Venice'') and famous

Biskupin Biskupin is an archaeological site and a life-size model of a late Bronze Age fortified settlement in north-central Poland that also serves as an archaeological open-air museum. When first discovered it was thought to be early evidence of a We ...

Gąsawa Gąsawa (german: Gonsawa, 1939–1945 ) is a village in Żnin County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Gąsawa. It lies approximately south of Żnin and ...

in the

Pałuki Pałuki is a historic and ethnographic region lying in central Poland, part of Greater Poland neighbouring Pomerania and Kuyavia. In terms of administrative division the region lies in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodship and Greater Poland Voivodship ...

region. Railway traditions of Pałuki date back to July 1894 when the first two lines were opened. From 1930s until the 1960s most of 600mm gauge lines were converted to 750mm (in the meantime, after World War II Poland lost territories in the east and acquired territories in the west and north). After the war, in 1948–1949, 2984 km of local public railways were nationalized and taken over by the

Polish State Railways (''PKP S.A.''; en, Polish State Railways, Inc.) is the dominant railway operator in Poland. The company was founded when the former state-owned enterprise was divided into several units based on the need for separation between infrastructure ...

(PKP). As a result, in 1950 there were 4146 km of PKP narrow-gauge lines, including 1293 km of 600mm gauge and 1127 km of 750mm gauge.Pokropiński, Bogdan (2007). ''Muzealne parowozy wąskotorowe w Polsce (dla toru szerokości 750 mm)'', Muzeum Ziemi Pałuckiej, Żnin, p.4 There were also 914 km of 1000mm gauge public railways, mostly on ex-German territories.Pokropiński, Bogdan. ''Muzealne parowozy wąskotorowe na tor 1000 mm'' in: "Świat Kolei" Nr. 8/2010, p.29 . In the 1950s and 1960s, 748 km of 600mm gauge and 275 km of other lines were converted to 750mm. There were also 951 km of forest railways and 724 km of sugar beet railways in 1950, and a number of isolated industrial railways.Pokropiński, Bogdan (2000). ''Muzealne parowozy wąskotorowe w Polsce (dla toru szerokości 600 i 630 mm)'', Muzeum Ziemi Pałuckiej, Żnin, . , p.5-6 From the 1960s, narrow-gauge railways started to decline, with the development of road transport. The service on narrow-gauge lines were continued by PKP until 2001. As of 2021, the only narrow-gauge line in Poland with all-year revenue passenger service is , a 3 km line linking a town of

Pleszew Pleszew (; german: Pleschen) is a town in central Poland, in Greater Poland Voivodeship, about 90 km southeast of Poznań. It is the capital of Pleszew County (''powiat pleszewski''). Population is 17,892 (2004). History The oldest permanen ...

with a mainline station located in a nearby village of Kowalew. But this is a 3-rail route, and only the standard gauge is daily used. The narrow gauge track is used on some sundays. Exploitation of both is by SKPL, the only railway company with two different track-gauges in Poland. In the past, there have also been , and lines. A recreational line 4.2 km long had been operating in the Amusement-Recreation Park in

Chorzów Chorzów ( ; ; german: link=no, Königshütte ; szl, Chorzōw) is a city in the Silesia region of southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central cities of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – a metropolis with a population ...

(now converted to 785),

. A similar line, Kolejka Parkowa Maltanka, operates in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

. Some of Poland's narrow-gauge railways are maintained by volunteers; one organization dedicated to preserving narrow-gauge railways is the FPKW, the Polish Narrow Gauge Railways Foundation. A few tramways also use 1000mm gauge, in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...

Elbląg Elbląg (; german: Elbing, Old Prussian: ''Elbings'') is a city in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland, located in the eastern edge of the Żuławy region with 117,390 inhabitants, as of December 2021. It is the capital of Elbląg County. ...

Grudziądz Grudziądz ( la, Graudentum, Graudentium, german: Graudenz) is a city in northern Poland, with 92,552 inhabitants (2021). Located on the Vistula River, it lies within the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship and is the fourth-largest city in its prov ...

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...

and

Toruń )'' , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_flag = POL Toruń flag.svg , image_shield = POL Toruń COA.svg , nickname = City of Angels, Gingerbread city, Copernicus Town , pushpin_map = Kuyavian-Pom ...

Overview

* ,

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

railway * , several systems including the Seaside Narrow-Gauge Railway, tourist railway (30 km) * , defunct * (Upper-Silesian narrow-gauge railways), now a tourist railway (21+6 km) * Zabytkowa Stacja Kolei Wąskotorowej w Rudach, tourist railway * Bieszczadzka Kolejka Leśna, partly a tourist railway * , regauged from 1000 mm in 1951, tourist railway (15 km) * , regauged from 600 mm in 1957, tourist railway * , tourist railway * , defunct * Krośniewicka Kolej Dojazdowa, defunct but plans to renew *

Marecka Kolej Dojazdowa Marecka Kolej Dojazdowa ( en, Marki Commuter Railway) was a narrow gauge railway in Poland connecting Warsaw with Marki and Radzymin Radzymin is a town in Poland and is one of the distant suburbs of the city of Warsaw. It is located in the po ...

, regauged from 800 mm in 1951, defunct * , tourist railway * , revenue passenger service by SKPL between Pleszew and Kowalew. * , regauged from 760 mm, tourist railway (46 km) * , regauged from 600 mm, tourist railway (49 km) * , regauged from 1000mm in 1958, tourist railway (17 km) * , formerly Sochaczewska Kolej Powiatowa, tourist railway * , regauged from 1000 mm in 1952–54, tourist railway * , tourist railway * , regauged from 600 mm in 1951, tourist railway * ; regauged from 600 mm in 1957, defunct * , tourist railway * Dobre Aleksandrowskie–

Kruszwica Kruszwica (german: Kruschwitz) is a town in central Poland and is situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Bydgoszcz Voivodeship (1975–1998). It has a population of 9,412 (2004). Initially founded in the 6th c ...

; defunct * ; 106 km, defunct * ; 82.4 km, defunct * ; several defunct systems * Kolejka Parkowa Maltanka; operating *

Narrow Gauge Railway Museum in Wenecja Narrow Gauge Railway Museum in Wenecja (Polish ''Venice'') near Żnin (Poland) is an open-air museum collecting and exhibiting steam locomotives, passenger and freight cars, trolleys, railwaymen's tools, signalling equipment, contents of an old wa ...

(located alongside, but not connected to, the Żnińska Kolej Powiatowa)Znin Railway
/ref> * , defunct (27 km) * , defunct (57 km) * , partly tourist railway (144 km) * (Żnin district railway), partly tourist railway

References

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