Poland’s annual All Saints’ Day travel surge officially began at 06:00 on Friday, 30 October, when the National Police (Policja) activated the “Operation Torch” safety plan and the Border Guard stepped-up selective checks on the country’s internal Schengen frontiers. More than 6,000 officers have been deployed on motorways, expressways and the approach roads to major cemeteries, supported by mobile sobriety checkpoints, unmarked video cars and laser speed guns. The Interior Ministry expects traffic volumes to peak on the afternoon of 31 October, as millions of people head home to visit family graves. While the campaign primarily targets speeding, drink-driving and distracted driving, it also has a mobility dimension for foreign residents and business travellers. Heavy-goods vehicles over 12 tonnes are banned nationwide between 18:00 and 22:00 on 31 October and from 08:00 to 22:00 on 1 November. Companies moving time-critical cargo by road must therefore reschedule or use rail. Expatriates should note that temporary ID checks remain possible at the borders with Germany and Lithuania; travellers are advised to carry a passport or national ID even within Schengen to avoid delays. Police headquarters in Warsaw warn that journey times around Warsaw, Kraków, Poznań and Wrocław may double during the evening peak. Many municipal authorities have introduced one-way systems and closed streets adjacent to cemeteries; real-time information is available via the free mObywatel and Yanosik apps. In Silesia and Pomerania plain-clothes officers have been stationed on trams and buses to deter pick-pocketing, a measure welcomed by employers that have shifted to public transport vouchers to cut mileage expenses for staff on assignment. The authorities emphasise that enforcement is more rigorous than in previous years. Revised criminal-code provisions that came into force in January 2026 allow courts to confiscate vehicles driven by repeat drink-drivers and impose lifetime driving bans for causing a fatal accident. Human-resources departments should brief international assignees on the penalties, which apply equally to foreign licence-holders. For global-mobility managers the key takeaway is planning. Clients flying into Warsaw or Kraków late on 31 October should be booked into airport hotels rather than risk long road transfers, while companies operating shuttle services for Ukrainian or German commuters should factor the truck curfew into schedules. The campaign runs until 06:00 on Monday, 2 November, but local traffic restrictions in some cities remain in place until the early hours of 3 November.
Source: Polskie Radio / Policja.pl
