Poland Moves to Arm Rail Guards Against Drone Threats
The proposal arrives as Warsaw works to harden critical transport networks after sabotage incidents and mounting fears over alleged Russian hybrid operations.
The draft amendment to the Railway Transport Act was prepared by the Infrastructure Ministry and published by the Prime Minister’s Office. It would let the Railway Security Guard (SOK) use devices capable of destroying or disabling unmanned aircraft.
The measure would bring railway guards’ authority closer to that of other security services, including access to equipment built specifically to counter unmanned aircraft. It would also widen the circumstances in which guards may fire weapons, including to destroy or disable drones in cases covered by aviation law. Guards would additionally gain expanded powers to record interventions and to pursue suspects across private land.
The government said the changes are meant to align SOK powers with “contemporary threats” and to bolster protection of railway infrastructure, which is treated as part of Poland’s critical infrastructure.
The move follows heightened alarm over the country’s rail network after sabotage last November on the Warsaw-Lublin line. Explosives damaged a section of track near Mika. In a separate incident near Pulawy, overhead infrastructure was damaged and a metal clamp was placed on the track, in what authorities said appeared to be an attempt to derail a train.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said at the time that two Ukrainian nationals working with Russian intelligence were behind the attacks. He described them as among the most serious acts of sabotage in Poland since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Worries over drone activity near sensitive sites have also grown. A parliamentary inquiry in July cited cases of drone flights near railway facilities and questioned what powers police and other services have when unmanned aircraft operate close to strategically important locations.
The draft comes as Warsaw increasingly warns that Russian sabotage, cyber operations and other hybrid activity pose a direct threat to Poland and NATO states.
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