Poland’s Internal Security Agency – Agencja Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego (ABW) has begun investigations after the country’s rail traffic management system was hacked, bringing trains to a halt near the north-western city of Szczecin in the Zachodniopomorskie region on Saturday night.
Polish State Railways (PKP) reported that during the night an unauthorised radio-stop signal was sent to trains in the Zachodniopomorskie province causing a number of trains to grind to a halt.
PKP stated that all passengers were safe but several trains had been delayed.
There have also been unconfirmed reports that railway workers across the country have heard the Russian national anthem along with speeches by Vladimir Putin being played on a radio frequency reserved for staff.
Stanislaw Zaryn, the deputy coordinator of the intelligence services, announced that the ABW was now involved, raising the possibility that sabotage might be the cause of the incidents.
Not an isolated incident
This attack is one of a number of incident affecting the Polish railways in recent times – Earlier in the week, a freight train and a passenger train were involved in a collision and in another incident, an inter-city train operating in the North-East of the country was de-railed.
“We know that attempts to destabilise the Polish state have been going on for months, Such efforts have been carried out by the Russian Federation in cooperation with Belarus, and for this reason we are not underestimating any signals that reach the ABW”
Stanislaw Zaryn
On Sunday morning it was announced that another case of the unauthorised use of the radio-stop signal took place on Saturday evening on the railway line between Bialogard and Runowo Pomorskie.
Vital supplies to Ukraine
The attacks against the Polish rail network could be retaliation by Russia, or by Russian nationalists for the fact that Poland is operating a vital route for supplies from the West in to Ukraine to help their fight against the Russian armed forces.
