Poland’s rail regulator has found that Czech private operator RegioJet violated passenger rights following a series of train cancellations shortly after its market entry in Poland, with the operator now facing the prospect of a fine of up to 2% of its annual revenue for engaging in “unlawful practices”.
RegioJet only started operating domestic services in Poland last year, but its launch has already been beset by major operational difficulties and potential legal action. In a decision published yesterday, the President of Poland’s Office of Rail Transport (UTK) said the Czech private operator had engaged in “unlawful practices” that infringed the collective interests of passengers. The ruling centres on the cancellation of 23 scheduled services in December 2025, which the regulator said should have been operated once tickets were sold.
The potential financial consequences are significant. Under Polish law, UTK may launch separate proceedings to impose a penalty of up to 2% of the company’s annual turnover. Although it is unclear whether that applies to RegioJet’s Polish operations or its wider European business, the Czech company’s total revenue in 2024 amounted to around €168 million, meaning the fine could come to more than €3 million.
More than 1000 trains cancelled
The decision follows a far larger disruption that hit RegioJet’s Polish operations in December 2025, when the company cancelled 1,080 train services on key long-distance routes just days before departure, citing staff shortages. The cancellations affected an estimated 250,000 seat bookings during the Christmas travel peak, leaving passengers scrambling for alternatives at one of the busiest times of year.
State operator PKP Intercity at the time branded RegioJet’s actions “irresponsible”, stating that the company had secured train paths previously used by PKP services, only to then fail to operate them. It also said some of its own connections had been removed from the timetable to accommodate RegioJet’s entry, warning that insufficiently prepared market entry risked leaving Polish passengers stranded and undermining trust in rail.
‘Organisational difficulties’
UTK’s legal case focuses specifically on 23 connections that were included in the official timetable but never operated. These comprised seven services on Warsaw–Kraków, four between Gdynia and Kraków, and 12 on the Poznań–Warsaw route.
According to UTK, passenger complaints played a central role in the investigation. Travellers reported difficulties cancelling tickets, issues with refunds, and in some cases being forced to purchase replacement tickets at higher cost when reimbursement was delayed or not provided.
RegioJet attributed the cancellations to “organisational difficulties”, but the regulator rejected that defence, stating that the burden of risk associated with running services lies with the carrier, not passengers, and that operational issues cannot justify a failure to deliver services that have already been sold.
The regulator also stressed that publishing a timetable and opening ticket sales created a binding legal obligation to operate those services, adding that informing passengers of cancellations and issuing refunds did not remove that obligation, nor did it mitigate the breach once the transport contract was formed.
The decision is not final, with RegioJet given 14 days to request a reconsideration from UTK or 30 days to appeal to the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw.