Przedsiębiorstwo Komunikacji Samochodowej

Solbus LH 10,5

Two Autosan H9-21 buses from PKS Nowa Sól.

Przedsiębiorstwo Komunikacji Samochodowej (commonly abbreviated PKS, can be translated as Motor Transport Company) is a major Polish enterprise dealing with inter-city public transport using coaches.

History

It was created as a state enterprise in 1945 in post-war communist Poland as Państwowa Komunikacja Samochodowa (State Motor Transport). In 1992 it was renamed to its current name. Until recently it had a monopoly on suburban bus transport in Poland. Recently it has been broken up, with many new companies being privatized.

Incidents

PKS buses were involved in two major crashes in Poland. The first major accident happened in 1978, when 30 people died in an incident, in which two buses plunged from a bridge 18m into Żywiec Lake.

The other incident is known as the Poland bus disaster of 1994, in which an overcrowded bus driving 10 km/h over the 50 km/h speed limit collided with a tree, and 32 people died. This remains the worst road disaster in the country's history.