During the invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II the Polish railway network was crippled by the Luftwaffe bombing campaign.

[3] Due to the average age of the network and lack of maintenance, many sections are limited to speeds below 160 km/h (99 mph) even on trunk lines.

Up to June 2014, the European Investment Bank had provided loans totalling €1.9 billion for rail modernization projects in Poland.

In test runs on the CMK in November 2013 a new Pendolino ED250 train set a new Polish speed record of 293 km/h (182 mph).

[9] In 2011–2015 the Warsaw-Gdańsk-Gdynia railway line has undergone a major upgrading costing $3 billion, partly funded by the European Investment Bank, including track replacement, realignment of curves and relocation of sections of track to allow speeds up to 200 km/h (124 mph), modernization of stations, and installation of the most modern ETCS Level 2 signalling system, which is to be completed in June 2015.

[13][14] As of 2008, foreign services include EuroCity and EuroNight trains between Western and Eastern Europe, most notably the EN Jan Kiepura direct sleeping cars between Amsterdam, Basel and Munich via Warsaw, Poznan and Germany.

The LHS to Sławków is the longest broad-gauge line, single track, almost 400 km long, from the Ukrainian border just east of Hrubieszów.

[16] Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa westward extension from Slawkow via Gliwice, Gorlitz, Jena, Paderborn and Oberhausen to Amsterdam and Rotterdam, and branch to Hamburg, and new broad-gauge link from Ukrainian border via Chelm, Lublin, Bialystok and Suwalki to Mockai (Lithuania) and branch to Gdansk Port.