Orlen Kolej

Orlen Kolej
Company typeLtd.
IndustryRail transport
Founded20 April 2002 (component of Gdańsk Refinery)
1 January 2003 (separate organization)
HeadquartersGdańsk, Poland
Key people
Krzysztof Duszczyk
CEO
Number of employees
1,700 (2024)
Websitekolej.orlen.pl

Orlen Kolej, formerly known as Lotos Kolej, is a rail transport company owned by Orlen since 2022, previously having been owned by Grupa Lotos and the Gdańsk Refinery. It was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in the city of Gdańsk.

History

Background

In 1997, Euronaft Trzebinia, the first private industrial railway company in Poland founded after 1989, was created to ship oil coming from a refinery in Trzebinia.[1] In 2001, the Polish State Railways (Polish: Polskie Linie Kolejowe; PKP) were restructured from a single company to several different railway companies all comprising the PKP Group. One of such companies was PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe, which managed the rail infrastructure and had to make a profit, thus opening the door for rapid growth in the private rail sector.[2]

History of Orlen Kolej and its predecessors

Orlen Kolej received its license to operate on 20 March 2002, as an arm of the Gdańsk Refinery. On 1 January 2003, the Rail Transport Administration of the Gdańsk Refinery was opened as a separate company, administering the rolling stock of the refinery and its operations. On 8 October, the Administration received permission from PKP PLK to operate on all of its tracks, soon being renamed to Lotos Kolej.[3]

On 1 February 2004, Grupa Lotos bought refineries in Czechowice-Dziedzice, Jasło, and Gorlice, which were, from then on, serviced by Lotos Kolej, which conducted its first international transport on 20 April 2007.[3] Despite this, its international services that went to Germany only went as far as Szczecin Gumieńce railway station before relaying their freight to other rail companies.[4] On 1 September 2022, Orlen formally bought Lotos Group, and as a result, Orlen's own railway company, Orlen KolTrans was absorbed into Lotos Kolej on 3 July 2023.[5] On 14 October 2024, its name was changed to Orlen Kolej.[6]

Rolling stock

Immediately after it was created, LotosKolej possessed seven SM42 locomotives.[7] At the start of 2005, it bought four M62s and two ST43s. In June 2005, it exchanged all of its M62 locomotives with PCC Rail Szczakowa, a subsidiary of DB Cargo Polska, in exchange for 5 ST43s for future long-range transport use.[8] Older electric locomotives were also soon acquired, with the basic type of such locomotive in use being Škoda 31E locomotives leased to Orlen Koley by České dráhy.[9]

In November 2009, Lotos Kolej was leased its first Alstom Traxx locomotive, and after that, 8 more such locomotives appeared in its fleet, although none were actually owned by the company.[10] The new locomotives allowed for the old ST43s to be retired, completely withdrawn by January 2011.[11] More Traxxes were leased out or bought through the following years.[12][13] In 2011, the company began operating a Newag Dragon locomotive.[14] In 2014, four more Dragons were leased out to it.[15] It only operates one type of carriage, the 417F tank car.[2]

References

  1. ^ Chiżyński, Jacek (2011). "Operatorzy prywatni w Polsce – podsumowanie działalności". Świat Kolei. Łódź: Emi-press.
  2. ^ a b Komusiński, Szymon. Przekształcenia przestrzenne sieci pasażerskiego transportu kolejowego w Polsce w latach 1988–2008. Prace Komisji Geografii Komunikacji PTG (Report). Warsaw, Rzeszów: Komisja Geografii Komunikacji PTG.
  3. ^ a b "LOTOS Kolej". lotos.pl. Grupa Lotos. 5 March 2008. Archived from the original on 11 November 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  4. ^ Chiżyński, Jacek (2009). "Lotos Kolej na Gumieńcach". Świat Kolei. Łódź: Emi-press.
  5. ^ Madrjas, Andrzej (8 February 2022). "Lotos Kolej narodowym czempionem dzięki fuzji? Wchłonie Koltrans". rynek-kolejowy.pl. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  6. ^ Kiewlicz, Robert (14 October 2024). "Lotos Kolej znika z rynku. Zmienia nazwę na Orlen Kolej". trojmiasto.pl. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  7. ^ Latten, Richard (2004). Jahrbuch Europäische Eisenbahnen 2005. Berlin: Lok Report. p. 316. ISBN 3-935909-05-5.
  8. ^ Latten, Richard (2005). Jahrbuch Europäische Eisenbahnen 2006. Berlin: Lok Report. p. 406. ISBN 3-935909-06-3.
  9. ^ Latten, Richard (2009). Spoorwegen 2010. Alkmaar: Uitgeverij de Alk. p. 458. ISBN 978-90-6013-494-8.
  10. ^ Terczyński, Paweł (2010). "Lokomotywy E186 i E189 w Polsce". Świat Kolei. Łódź: Emi-press.
  11. ^ Štefek, Petr (July 2011). "Konec strojů 060DA u dopravce Lotos Kolej". spz.logout.cz. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  12. ^ Chiżyński, Jacek (2011). "Traxx F140 DE w Lotos Kolej". Świat Kolei. Łódź: Emi-press.
  13. ^ Štefek, Petr (October 2011). "Koleje Śląskie zahájily provoz". spz.logout.cz. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  14. ^ "Dragon w Lotos Kolej". petrolnet.pl. 2 August 2011. Archived from the original on 20 March 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  15. ^ "Dragon już w Lotos Kolej (zdjęcia)". rynek-kolejowy.pl. 3 March 2014. Archived from the original on 12 March 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2025.

See also

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