PKP InterCity / ZSSK through Poland and Slovakia - Retro Style Train Review (Katowice to Žilina)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 ธ.ค. 2020
- Hello and welcome to another train trip report on my channel. For this video I am travelling with PKP InterCity and Železnična Spoločnosť Slovensko on their jointly operated TLK 421 service from Poland to Slovakia. My journey is from Katowice to Žilina, but the train runs from Gdynia overnight too.
Starting off as the loco for this trip is a brand-new Newag Griffin (PKP EU160), which leads the train South through Czechowice Dziedzice and Bielsko-Biała, before arriving into Zwardoń. At this station, just metres from the Slovak border, the loco is swapped to a ZSSK 362, a classic Škoda locomotive. This machine then leads the train across the border, through Čadca, and then finally into Žilina.
It's a beautiful journey through Slovakia and Poland, so watch the video to enjoy it too!
#pkpintercity #zssk #tlk #trip report
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Journey Details:
Origin: Katowice
Destination: Žilina
Company: PKP InterCity / Železnična Spoločnosť Slovensko (ZSSK)
Train: PKP EU160/ZSSK 362 + ZSSK BDs
Accommodation: Second Class Seat (2nd)
Distance: 102 miles / 164 kilometres
Price: 53.93zł (€11.80 / £10.80 / $14.80)
Time: 3h40m
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/ superalbs
TLK is also sometimes translated into "Tani Letni Koszmar" which means "Cheap Summer Nightmare". TLK category has no guaranty of restaurant cars, A/C or power sockets, usually consisting of old cars with the only sure thing is to have wheels. Beside highest classes of EIC or EIP (Pendolino), the IC category is much better - the same price, but with refurbished carriages and most often with a restaurant car. I used to take TLK a lot of times, but now I try to avoid it.
One of the problems with Polish railroads is poor choice of international connections. The main routes are to Berlin or Vienna (new direct train Berlin - Kraków has been introduced last week), but there is either lack of any connections on many branches, few trains per day or routes with really low speed. This TLK "Rozewie" was a hopeful starting point, but in current timetable it has been shortened to Zwardoń. PKP only decided to establish a connection to Zilina because of the shortage of passenger cars, especially for summer vacation "rush hours", so they borrowed them from Slovakia (or Czechia for other connections).
That makes travelling trough the southern border quite annoying. Whenever I go for a trip to Slovakia or Czechia from Kraków, I choose a car.
Tesco has been present in Poland since late 1990, I think. However, they decided to quit the Polish market and they closed all their stores last month.
Regards, it was nice to see your video!
They've been trying to re-establish international connections in recent years, but COVID got in the way.
@Keaton MathewExactly: No one gives a shit of that content you poured out on every YT site I fall upon.
12:20 someone (propably train service) shouts to the man with the bike where did he want to get off, because the train doesn’t stop on this station according to the schedule. They wanted to make sure, that the biker left the train on the correct station.
Lemme tell ya one thing (im polish lol) we never cancel our trains, even if theres a radioactive nuke in the track, unless we havent had our pierogi
Also that guy was probably doing battery replacement or recharging/brake pressure tests or if its an even older coach checking whether it has gas
Edit: Also what those people were saying was basically: Why are you getting off, your not allowed/meant to get off here
Edit 2: Always love it how, for example here you can get a train ticket for £10-£15 for 100 miles, whereas in london you can barely travel into the city for that price by train!
for the average polish person, transit prices are more or less equal to what it would cost Londoners (adjusted to quality of transportation, since many cities don't have subways). Also, trains rarely get cancelled sure, but when they do it's massive. I remember being stuck in Poznan at 21:00 with no available trains.
@@ronylouis0 lolol ik that first bit was a bit of a joke, but I live in london for most of the year, and visit my grandparents in lublin for the summer, ticket prices there are a quarter, even less than a single bus fare in london, and you cant make the quality argument as being perfectly honest half the time the transport is better in poland, it just shows how cheap and good value things can be in poland if you dont get ripped off :P
@@thedumgamer2046 yeah, Poland has developed a great city transport system, but it's intercity and local connections aren't the best. Even large cities like Lublin have only 12 trains a day connecting it up with the capital, compare that with the 3 times smaller Cambridge in the UK which has an hourly service with London, even though it's closer. And the fares have to be cheaper, as if they were London prices, no one would use them. Warsaw is the only one that has a metro system, as there is no need for them in other cities, other large cities have a well developed tram system, as well as huge bus networks. London overall has a better transport system, but most polish cities have better transport then their English counterparts, largely due to the privatisation of the British ones.
@@samborpuskas 12 trains a day is 1tp2h which is the service quite a few british cities get to london, and thats because cambridge is a commuter town, where lots of people who live there work in london, and lots of people living in london go to university there, and it doesnt even get a fast service
@@thedumgamer2046 This discussion reminds me of children fighting in the sandbox.
8:21 That bubble window is mainly used by guards to check the doors are closed, as in my experience they need to be closed manually. They should be replaced soon but most projects so far have stalled.
Awesome stuff mate, such and underrated experience! Everyone nowadays wants state of the art technology (fairly obv) and the railways seem to meet this requirement by standardizing nearly every rolling stock bringing it more to a more "airline" style experience. I love to see that this old coaches still do their job properly and that these classic, old fashioned, train routes are still a thing. I get that AC is awesome but I'll thake opening windows everyday of the week :))
Great video, subscribed :)
Thanks, glad you enjoyed! :)
this trip is so nostalgic for me. the sounds and sights, and I kind of know what this train smells like, it's a very peculiar aroma of old oil and dirt. And it's so slow you can actually open the window and stick your head out and eat a fly or two. Brilliant. As for the guy with the bike, someone was asking him where he was meant to get off, saying that this was not a planned stop and he said Raczaje, which was the name of that station weirdly enough. Maybe he meant to get off on that grassy one as they shared the name.
Thanks for the information. It was a truly amazing journey, and I love travelling like this. :)
After the 12/2020 annual winter modification of timetables the Slovak part of this train was cancelled and it only runs now from Gdynia Główna to Zwardoń (last Polish station before the frontier). Too bad, but the international part of the train had only been introduced with the annual timetable modification of 12/2019 and I guess the "amazing" year of 2020 took its toll with lack of passengers on the cross-border section.
362 have distinct sound due to thyristor speed regulation. For the noise during the starting of fluorescent lights the explanation is that fluorescent lamps best work provided with alternating current of high enough voltage. On-board electricity of carriages is 24V direct current, not only DC but the voltage is too low for fluorescent lamps. Therefore AC must be generated for fluorescents and here each lamp has an individual transistor inverter, the sound comes from that inverter. Actually more modern stock uses similar solutions but simply newer inverters use more modern semiconductor elements that don't emit audible sound. Indeed EN57 are called kibel which means toilet but modernised like the EN57AKS here are additionally called turbokibel, the turbotoilet. About closing doors, good that you closed them manually as even if the automatic mechanism is working, in Poland train service most often would choose not to use it in case of old trains with such doors, they would walk from front to end closing manually. This is for historical reasons. Overall TLK trains with PKP IC carriages even in their worst they are still much better than ZSSK carriages like here. But even if most interiors are nice, automatic door closing mechanisms were often unreliable (partially due to uneven maintenance but the standards of it are going better so far) and not all doors would close. So as there was a high chance of the need to go and close manually anyway, often train service would not use it in the first place expecting that the walk would be inevitable anyway. This changes and train services delegated to trains consisting of more modern carriages with sliding doors or at least predominance of such carriages (manual door ones paired with them are in such cases the better carriages with manual doors than typical manuals) use automatic closing regularly.
I have to admit that this is one of the videos that I especially like (I sincerely hope I won’t be misunderstood, because I’m really well-meaning), first because of the route itself which is in many ways specific and interesting, and then, it’s a real pleasure to read comments on a report from a trip by an Englishman from the magnificent south where, among others, GWR trains run (ok, I know you don't like Class 800 - 802 😁 in one car of an Eastern European, even international train in an 8-seat synthetic material section reminiscent of skin. I'm joking a bit, because I've been following your channel and your travels for a while now, so I've seen that your train journeys through Eastern Europe are close and dear - and I'm just glad about that since I live in that part of Europe. This is my first comment that I leave after one of your videos, and I avoided writing, because I don't really know English very well. However, with these few sentences, I actually want to greet you and thank you for all the video reports from your travels on various trains so far. It is still strange that one European international train, even on this route, travels with cars in which there are 2nd class compartment with 8 seats, right?
If I'm not mistaken Poland is Pope John Paul 2nd his country.
Your trip was so exciting although there were no much scenic views on the route. And the trains on the video were old but for me it's already a luxury in our country because we don't have such great trains in here.
Thank you for sharing your experience in your trip, I love it! 💟🇵🇭
You are not mistaken 😉
...and from a town not very far from the route of this train.
Lovely video! I really would love to travel more through Poland by train - however I have some lovely friends in Poland who always want to take me out by car to see the country! 😊
I haven’t been on this train but I have been on the PKP EuroCity Berlin-Warsaw express and took it to Poznań. It’s a good journey
Great video! Nice to see old ZSSK coaches, they are the same like ČD "B249" coaches operated on many Czech fast trains, but here, most of them are already with a new interior. It looks like a nice experience, I like these old school trains :-)
Great trip report going from Poland to Slovakia its good you got the compartment to yourself the new locomotive definitely looks odd hauling classic stock but I liked the sounds from the old loco but anyway continue with your trip reporting 😁
Amazing video mate, loved it! 😁
How is it possible that you commented before the video was published? (By the way, I totally agree with your comment)
@@s_acostamuniz priority access for friends 😉
@@NonstopEurotrip Nice!
I was amazed at prices in Poland - Wroclaw to Krakov walk-up fare was about 8 Euros a couple of years ago.
Great video !!
Great video and a thank you to your Polish subscribers for their input, especially regarding the bubble glass. Really interesting 👍
Yeah, it's very helpful to have such a vast group of people who watch my videos! Thanks for watching. :)
I love remarks like "there is no signage in English". How many signs in Polish or Slovakian do you see on British trains? :-)
Most signs in both country's have it written in English, often in German and Russian too. Nearly everyone in Poland speaks at least one of those, and the majority of visitors also speak on of those.
English is a universal language that everyone should be able to speak to some degree... An average Brit or American won’t speak Polish, German or Slovak because what for? English however is used worldwide and that’s why English signs are always a good shout! I mean it really is a common sense people!
@@golxo1 Well, more people speak Mandarin or Spanish than English, so that doesn't really make sense
@@samborpuskas English is a universal language tho, adopted by every country to be able to communicate. You have more people speaking mandarinian because you’ve got over a billion Chinese that doesn’t make it a language that every nation can speak. Without English we wouldn’t be able to have an argument in this comment section.
@@golxo1 Late effects of imperialism...
Now in this timetable 2020/2021 train TLK ROZEWIE goes only to Zwardoń in some days etc winter season, holidays and weekends, you need watch the timetable before the journey, SORRY FOR MY ENGLISH
Cool lok, i want to go on this one day.
Oh the mighty rolling stock from Bautzen (DDR). It's meh to see the worst of the worst ZSSK coaches being rented to PKP. They have rented the same coaches from ČD too along with Googles diesel locos but ČD coaches are in a much better condition, as we here locally say: "humanized". That means new textile seat covers, interior details, etc... seeing these coaches in this state is sad. Anyways, it was great to see it from your perspective and as a classic rail travel I guess it's ok for that price. 🧚♂️
In slovakia we also
have humanzed bautzen's ans modern couches but PKP want this old bautzen's due to cleaning and maintance...
@@myffussk not really, these old ones were the cheapest option, so "poor" PKPIC decided to take them. There were lots of complaints about them. Czech ones were way better and travelling in them was really enjoyable (and it will be as they have been renting them every possible summer for years, so we could expect them this summer). I hope that when TLK 420 "Rozewie" will be back, it will be hauled using some modern coaches.
14:42 oh yes, that sound. One of my favourite electric loco sounds. Don't know exactly what they were doing at Škoda works to make it, but the sound of those Eso and Pershing locomotives really is something very distinctive. Even though I hate these old Rychliks (sorry Konrad Povac if you are reading this!), I took a ride on one in Czechia just to listen to the 362 class hauling our train.
And speaking about the scenic lines in Poland, you must try the "Zackenbahn" from Jelenia Gora to Szklarska Poreba Gorna, continuing across the Czech border as "Tanvaldska Zubačka" via Harrachov to Tanvald and Liberec. One of the most scenic lines in Europe at all, just quite hidden from the eyes of mass tourism.
Btw, how do you (as a Brit) accept the fact that these oldies can close doors automatically, but famous Mk3s cannot? ;)
Hello. I'm from Poland and I wnet this train from Zabrze to Ziina too in July. I was adventure during this journey, because in Katowice locomotive EU07 was defected and was changing to oother and we departed from Katowice 40 minutes delayed. Really it was the worsr carriages from slovakian company ZSSK, but in December 2020 this train stopped go to ZILINA, but goes just polish carriages (PKP INTERCITY) and this train finish in zwardoń.
There are several versions of the Newag Griffin loco you see pulling the train in Poland. The top speed of the Griffin is 160 or 200 kmh, depending on the version.
Very nice video! You surely deserve more subs!
Thanks so much, and glad you enjoyed it! :)
TLK 420, nice
Nice video. Cisiec and Rajcza Centrum and the likes are stops rather than stations.
Thank you for this sympathetic report.
It reminds me of my first journey through Eastern Europe in 1994. On the almost direct, approx. two-day return journey from Tallinn (Estonia) to Prešov (Slovakia) via Warsaw and Krakow, I crossed the Carpathians further east than described in this film. On the border line (roughly between Nowy Sącz and Prešov) the international train Krakow (or even Warsaw) - Budapest consisted of a huge diesel locomotive and exactly one carriage of the same design as shown in the film. The scenery was beautiful and the train moved slowly enough to enjoy it. In addition, the local seat neighbour told obscene and political jokes from the communist era - an unforgettable journey!...
Fun facts:
I could use the freshly upgraded, comfortable (but slow) night train Balti Ekspress which wasn‘t yet mentioned in my guide book and which avoided Belarus. It doesn‘t seem to exist nowadays.
At the border with Poland, the customs officers looked under and behind each seat cushion. When the train was running again, the smugglers unscrewed the covers in the compartments and on the platform - and a blessing of cigarette packs poured down on us.
The IC Warsaw-Krakow was, in comparison, so fast and modern that I felt „back at home“ (in Western Europe) - and more: even with a free snack (in 2nd class!)
Fantastic story, thanks for sharing! I really look forward to visiting this area again...
@@SuperalbsTravels 👍
You used the crossing near Muszyna, Poland, which sadly only has a seasonal local ZSSK train from Poprad that crosses the border. No Polish trains cross into Slovakia anymore.
@@A_Canadian_In_Poland Exactly.
Hi :)
I would like to say that this video is really great :)
You were lucky that the locomotives which were leading that train were particularly those two types :D
In the schedule instead of the Newag EU160 (PKP series) / E4DCU (Manufacturer Type) / Griffin (Brand Name) the train should be lead by the EU/EP07 which is far less modern :)
Whats more, the Skoda 362 is not as common as 162 which should lead that train from Zwardoń to Žilina.
Maybe someday locomotives like E4DCU will receive the LS90 ATP components (or even MIREL) and will be able to enter to the Slovakia territory as their slightly bigger freight cousins (Dragon 2) from the same Newag factory in Nowy Sącz can do :)
Greating and keep safe :D
The Loco Looks like a Ringer for the Siemens Taurus.
The conversation at Rajcza station is not very clear due to the loud background noise generated by the locomotive. Basically the man on the train firstly asks the woman (fellow passenger?) if he is supposed to get off the train. The woman replays 'no' which means 'yes' in polish slang. Further more the man on the train asks the person standing on the platform and holding a mountain bike, 'Where am I supposed to get off (which station)? And the person replies 'At Rajcza (station)'.
I am sorry but I have missed big chunks of the conversation due to engine noise
It means Tanie Linie Kolejowe but yea people call it in various names
I remember when I was in Hungary making my way from the airport and the first shop I saw was a Tesco 😂
A home away from home! :)
When the first astronauts land on Mars there wating for them will be a Tesco, a McDonald's and possibly also a Greggs.
@@cephalopod7300 And a Biedronka
at the unexpected stop, driver was shouting that the passenger wasnt suppost to get off
And to think that now, in 2023, all PKP trains have been cut back to Bielsko-Biała on that line. Only local trains remain.
It was mumbling a lot ABOUT that bike guy, but the conductor said that this is not a stop for getting off and shouted at him afterwards
Hahaha, funny! 😅
What I like about the old rolling stock from Communist times is that one could take shoes off and stretch laying down if no body was around. Other than that many things need improvement.
Jesus... At least the loco is new and looks good
Oh we've got far worse trains than this coming up on the channel. 😃
They have lost of tescos in eastern Europe. They have them in Poland as well.
Slovakia is Central Europe though, Poland as well. 😉 Central Europe - Austria, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Poland, Slovakia and Switzerland. But interestingly there really are quite a lot of Tesco's in that region. 🙂
@@carleryk Poland is reaaaally midway through middle and eastern. It's often considered eastern because it's Slavic.
@@ronylouis0 Most people still use the old political east-west division. Today's Europe is divided into four political regions - Eastern-Western-Northern-Central. Geographically Poland is in Central Europe but it is at the same in the eastern part of the EU.
The point of the EU is to make the zone unified (obviously) but most western companies with global presence are still stuck in the 90's and produce a worse quality products for the Eastern Europe, offer worse services and letting their customers behind the iron curtain paying more for all that. Basically, in the 90's corrupt politics allowed western companies to buy out most of the big eastern companies with a good potential for fraction of their costs, leaving eastern economies basically in the hands of the west.
People need to realize that EU has fixed many of these 90's issues and really kicked in the eastern economies, supported startups and fought against such corruption. Last years were great in the Central (Eastern) Europe - CEE - minimal wages were constantly rised = global western companies started leaving the region, creating new opportunities for jobs that produce a higher value or leaving a space for new smaller local companies and startups. What does it have to do with Tesco? They and Ahold (Albert) had always terribly low wages and people had to buy their products because they were in many cases the only near supermarket. Nowadays there are so many better supermarkets (Lidl, Delmart) both with significantly higher wages for their employees as well as better quality products for their customers that these trash supermarkets are starting to lose their ground here.
Well, in a nutshell that's why there are so many Tescos and other "foreign" supermarkets in the region (and why there are currently so many Tescos closing in the CEE region).
Have u thought off makin a trailer or intro for ur upcoming videos
Welp. Good that Polish Country Railway (Polskie Koleje Państwowe) uses better stock than this shown in video
Yeah, I really like PKPIC stock overall! :)
Can you do video about Finlands railway “VR”
!!!THIS IS IMPORTATNT!!!
PKP said to ZSSK, they want this old cars, so ZSSK gratify their request and station Žilina is now under reconstruction, that be completed in 2024.
I have a question,why the train needs to change it's locomotive?The train doesn't looks full of passenger
Changing country. When you do this, you normalny need to change the loco.
It's because of voltage diferences. Czech and Slovakia have slighty higher voltage than in Poland. So that's why locomotive needs to be changed at the border. :)
@@zemeem3295 ZSR north part& PKP PLK 3 kV.
I live in Žilina 😂
No buffet car or refreshments?
It's TLK category. It basically has guaranty only to have wheels. Restaurant cars/air-conditioning/power sockets are standard for higher classes (IC, EIC, EIP)
@@kamilb.3643 Thanks for the reply. Useful to know to be well prepared for the journey.
I remember those screeching lights from all coaches delivered from DDR to Czechoslovakia in early 1980s. I can't stand them. Better to not use them at all.
just like INDIAN RAILWAYS!!!!!!!!
Wow! :)
Until 2023 or 2025 TLK will be gone, because there will be no old cars in service ;)
Aww! :(
I can't believe ZSSK send coaches like this on to international services. What an embarrassment 🤦♂️
Why not? TLK is low cost service. You get what you pay for. Anyway author's opinion is that it is worth for such low budget.
@Rob Originally TLK meant Tanie Linie Kolejowe (cheap railway lines) but it is the fact that they have been rebranded to Twoje Linie Kolejowe (your railway lines). Someone from Poland could probably explain it better. I am Czech.
@Rob Thanks.
Hey! At least there's no graffiti on the carriages! Always hate to see trains covered in graffiti!
Greetings from Slovakia :) in one internet discussion someone said that the poland carrier wanted this type of coaches beacuse they are easy to maintain, repair and are similar to coaches in poland. Since new timetable this service was cancelled :(
4:56 russian text lol
Yes! :D
Very disgusting stock from ZSSK
PKP does not have enough cars so they rent them from ZSSK (Slovakia) and ČD (Czechia). Unfortunately this is the worst what you can in both countries find, although the Czechs are little bit better.
@@david.janovsky not enough cars? Funny you say that, there's plenty, plenty of cars available. They simply don't care enough to refurbish them a tiny bit (seat replacement, light replacement and aircon) lol
@@david.janovsky 421/0 is cancelled now. Teraz R420/1 jest zlikwidowany.
@@ronylouis0 Good question. Maybe it coud be asked to PKP IC - why they rent such out-of-date cars from SK/CZ. More info about this: www.rynek-kolejowy.pl/wiadomosci/slowackie-wagony-w-pociagach-pkp-intercity-nie-zachwycaja-pasazerow-94948.html
It's pretty much the lowest level of stock they still have in service and steps are being taken to replace these, such as in Žilina with brand-new regiopanter EMUs. Other railway operators in nearby countries also have a similarly poor level of rolling stock.
Woow woow 😍💋 💝💖❤️
No f*ck off bots