Gdansk: A catastrophic rail disaster was narrowly averted in northern Poland after an express passenger train collided with a trapped lorry trailer at a level crossing in Gdańsk. CCTV footage captured the moment the PKP Intercity service, travelling from Gdynia Główna to Zielona Góra with approximately 250 to 300 passengers aboard, struck the heavy goods vehicle at speed.

According to network operator PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe (PLK), the 42 year old lorry driver a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina drove onto the tracks as the automated barrier arms were descending. Onsite witnesses desperately signaled for the driver to smash through the barrier to clear the line, but he attempted to manoeuvre instead, leaving the trailer stranded on the tracks.

Although all passengers and the lorry driver escaped without physical injury, the train driver was taken to hospital for treatment. The collision severely disrupted regional rail corridors along the Tczew Gdańsk line. Railway authorities reported that 279 trains suffered cumulative delays exceeding 17,500 minutes, with dozens more cancelled or rerouted. Repair costs for the locomotive, damaged tracks, and crossing mechanisms have been calculated at roughly 140,000 zlotys (27,500 GBP), which PLK plans to recover through civil litigation.

Polish authorities have formally charged the lorry driver with creating an immediate threat of a land transport disaster. He has pleaded not guilty and faces up to three years in prison if convicted.