Technical fault halts Polish railways, a key Ukraine exit route
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Almost two million people have fled to Poland from Ukraine.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
WARSAW (REUTERS) - Railways ground to a halt in many places across Poland on Thursday (March 17), hit by a widespread traffic control system outage, operator PKP PLK said, disrupting an important means of transport for refugees fleeing Ukraine.
Infrastructure Minister Andrzej Adamczyk said that railway workers were dealing with the situation and normal service would resume as soon as possible.
Almost two million people have fled to Poland from Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion on Feb 24. Poland has offered free rail tickets to refugees, allowing them to travel to stay with friends and family around the country.
"Regarding the transport of refugees, which has been the key task of the railway over the past few days, we are in full coordination of the process together with the ministry of infrastructure... so that the process is not halted and can be carried out to the extent possible," PKP PLK deputy chief executive Miroslaw Skubiszynski told reporters.
The traffic control outage was nearly nationwide, affecting 820km of track, he added.