Railway closures to passenger traffic in Poland and their social consequences

The first part of the paper characterizes railway passenger service withdrawals on present-day Polish territory. Three periods of more extensive closures can be distinguished, including the last period of the greatest closures which took place after 1990. The second part of the paper relates to the social consequences of passenger traffic closures. Such withdrawals usually have painful results for local communities. The results of household questionnaire surveys carried out in September 2002 in 20 selected localities throughout Poland are presented.