Comparison of selected railway lines in Poland using the analytical hierarchy process method

The volume of passenger and freight transport on a given railway line depends on many socio-economic factors. Therefore, before starting an investment on a railway line, various analyses are carried out regarding the choice of the line and the scope of works. This article presents the calculation of weights determining the impact of specific socio-economic factors on the volume of rail passenger and freight transport using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. Thereafter, a comparison was made of 12 railway lines located in various regions of Poland in terms of their use in both passenger and freight transport. Half of the analysed railway lines are main lines, while the other part are local lines. The comparison made it possible to arrange the selected lines regardless of their category.