Katowice rail hub paralysed after cable cut during works; 43 trains delayed by 1,983 minutes

What happened

On Tuesday evening, 9 June, shortly before 21:00, a power cable was severed during investment works at Katowice station. The damage immediately disabled the rail traffic control system, leaving controllers unable to monitor the position of points. For safety reasons, train movements were periodically halted altogether, and when they resumed, they did so in a severely restricted manner along designated tracks only. Technical crews had to physically inspect and secure each set of points on the ground.

“On Katowice station there was a failure of rail traffic control equipment caused by damage to a power cable during investment works. The result was a loss of control over the position of some points, which required manual checking and securing in the field and periodic suspension of train movements.”

Scale of disruption

By Wednesday morning, 43 passenger trains had been delayed, accumulating a total of 1,983 minutes of lost time. Individual delays on Wednesday morning ranged from 10 to several tens of minutes, and some services were cancelled outright. PKP Intercity warned that trains passing through Katowice could be delayed by up to 60 minutes and asked passengers to pay attention to voice announcements.

Emergency response

The Silesian Voivode's office activated the Regional Crisis Management Team in anticipation of severe disruption during the Wednesday morning peak. The technical workforce responsible for manually setting train paths was reinforced. Koleje Śląskie tickets were honoured by the Metropolitan Transport Authority (ZTM) on several corridors — Katowice–Gliwice, Katowice–Mysłowice, Katowice–Dąbrowa Górnicza Ząbkowice, and Katowice–Tychy — and by PKP Intercity on the Katowice–Gliwice, Katowice–Zawiercie, Katowice–Rybnik, and Katowice–Jaworzno Szczakowa routes.

Restoration

By Wednesday morning, PKP PLK press officer Piotr Hamarnik confirmed that the fault had been cleared. "All issues related to the failure have been resolved. Scheduled train services are being restored," he said. The repair allowed a gradual return to the timetable, though residual delays persisted through the morning peak.