Transformation of the Chojnice railway junction in the years 1989-2017 and future operational perspectives

The paper presents changes in the operation of the railway junction in Chojnice and neighbouring areas, and the impact thereof in the years 1989-2017. The analysis covers infrastructural changes, passenger traffic and organisational changes resulting from the transformation of the Polish State Railways (PKP) after 1989. The Chojnice railway junction, operating since the seventies of the nineteenth century is one of the biggest junctions in northern Poland. Regress of railway transport in the studied period noted throughout Poland resulted in closing down a number of railway lines in the vicinity and a reduction of operating connections and technical facilities. This led to limiting access to rail transport and to the peripheral role of the area in the region. Plans for upgrading the rail network provide an opportunity for improving the situation, particularly the electrification of the junction and the establishing of a terminal for collective transport at the neglected railway station described in the final part of the paper.