Let me correct a few things in this video: - coaches from late 1980s aren't even approved for traffic in Germany, in fact the coach you were riding in was manufactured in 2010 - seat 82 was in fact a window seat, it's visible at 5:35 (far left, with two hangers above; during this timestamp you were sitting on seat 95) - you don't have to "give up" your seat as you have seat reservation
Have to disagree on the "nightmare journey" heading. If you want nightmares, come to the US and ride Amtrak. I've ridden pkp intercity throughout Poland and it's always been a great experience at a fantastic price. Krakow is a wonderful city!
No doubt...Im from the states and I'll never ride Amtrak again. I've been on many of their routes. I go to Europe every summer with a Eurail pass. I'll take European trains over Amtrak any day.
I went first class on an intercity train in Poland and got served a delicious bacon roll of some kind. The trains there are excellent overall in terms of value.
I'm nearly halfway through the video and cannot see any nightmare...a bit crappy not to get the seat booked but bearable. Looks great for legroom and power supply
They've done a really good job refurbishing those carriages. Spacious and comfortable. You can see that people also don't litter, or put shoes on seats.
1980's carriages ? The only thing left from the 1980's in those carriages is the metal frame which is also sand blasted and painted and everything else is brand new. It is essentially a brand new carriage that is a little bit cheaper than a new one. You can also tell that the video is a few years old because of the face masks worn by some passangers and the Legnica train station looking horrible before the renovation began.
Labeling this a nightmare journey just because the train was a little overcrowded? Mate, you wouldn't last a minute in the Balkans or on some of the trains Superalbs has been on. Heck, Simply Railway is more butch than you, and he's French!
I'm from Poland. I love Polish IC trains. It's comfortable indeed and cheaper than travelling (1 or 2 people) by car. Best way to travell between bigger towns.
You are extremely well informed. I'm from the UK and have been living in PL for 2 decades or more. Both the road and rail network have improved significantly in this period. It's true that the max. rail speed in most parts is 100mph. Your pronunciation of Polish cities is good too. 60GBP for 1st class isn't too bad considering the cost for much worse in the UK.
We travelled on Polish Rail from Warsaw to Gdańsk and from there to Krakow, very comfortable, clean and on time performance. A wonderful experience at a very reasonable cost! The dining car meant could have been better by for short journeys it’s Ok. 🎉
On all PKP IC coaches that have airplane-style seats, seat numbers ending in 1,2,5,6 are ALWAYS window seats, so it's likely that someone just sat on yours and you should ask them to move.
It's maybe because the south of Poland is the most populated region of Poland (8 mln people living within 100 km from Krakow; Krakow's and Wroclaw's metropolitan area ~ 1.5 mln people and Katowice's metropolitan area ~2.5 mln people)
@@michalk5262 Tricity's population (Gdańsk+Gdynia+Sopot) is about 750k, its metropolitan area ~1 mln, Warsaw's population - 1.9 mln and its metropolitan area ~3 mln. So it's way less than 8 mln
I love your train videos, Dylan. As an American, I'm jealous of Europe's passenger trains. I wish our trains where that easy and affordable. Most of our trains will cost $50 or higher (depending on the trip). Twenty- six dollars is pocket change when compared to our trains. Loved the Polish and German scenery.
I'm not sure what you meant by abandoning your reserved seat. Did you stand for half of the journey? If so, why did you do that? If you have a seat reservation, if someone seats in your place, you just show them your ticket and they will move. It was unfortunate that your seat was incorrectly marked as a window seat, but if you decided to stand than I can't really understand why. Aisle seat is still better than standing...
It's a train that goes between the second and the third largest city in Poland, through the most densely populated area of the country. I'd expect it to be crowded.
The real problem is that they aren't running enough trains. IIRC there's 1 to 2 hours between each intercity train on this stretch - given how crowded the trains are, they should certainly run more intercity trains. Many of these intercity trains have mandatory seat reservations and get sold out several days in advance, which means that everybody who couldn't get a ticket in time crowds themselves onto the few trains that don't have mandatory reservations.
@@wasmic5z ofc they should have been running trains more offen, but there is massive problem with rail capacity between Głogów and Kraków (mostly caused by very outdated signalling system and lack of infrastracture). Problem with crowded trains is also caused by the PKP Intercity company itself, they are selling tickets for not emu trains until they reach around 120% of train capacity.
@@MIMALECKIPL I did take the same line on a regional train too (going in the other direction), and there weren't very many trains running. Of course, if the signalling system is very old, then the line might be near capacity despite the relatively few trains. But that just means that the line desperately needs to be upgraded with better signals and higher capacity!
The Eurocity/Intercity trains are the upper end of rail services in Poland. Usually too costly for daily use, if you don't get a monthly ticket or book early. But they sure managed to catch up to European standard in looks and finishes over the last 20+ years. On the TLK routes you can find much older coaches, sometimes not even airconditioned nor with updated livery.
A month ago while going from Krakow to Warsaw my and 5 other people seats didn't exist. We supposed it was because PKP sold tickets for a normal carriage but used a combo seating/bike rack carriage instead. We talked to the conductor and he was real nice and gave us access to a stuff compartment instead. This was the only bad experience I had with PKP but I think it was resolved quite tolerably.
couple years ago when visiting my ldr partner, it was not uncommon for me to seat in the corridor, the corridor was actually so full of people that it was hard to get to the other side of the carriage. We all had tickets, they just didn't have seats..
Just FYI, the checks going from Germany to Poland aren't so frequent - in the other direction at times it's every single service. It's caused real issues because the posted timetable is irrelevant when it doesn't allow for 1 hour of German police deciding to unilaterally suspend Schengen...
My train from Prague to Munich was basically cancelled after the German border police held it on border for about 45 minutes, so the other train, which was supposed to pull our carriages simply left us behind. Unpredictability of this causes lots of annoyances to the customers, as well as financial damage and timetable disruption to the railway companies.
@@CZpersi Oh that train has a terrible reputation. Obviously lots of tourists use it (always Americans on there, who get confused over how to use trains at the best of times) and the Alex carriages from Munich are often without air con and massively overcrowded. Meanwhile the CD ones are modern and fine, just nobody notices they've got that option after Plzen.
Well, Dylan, I'm a regular viewer, so thank you, and time to pay for all your effort with some comments: (1) Polish trains are like this for two rather simple chief reasons, (a) insufficient frequency, (b) reasonable pricing. (2) The other reason is corporate policy: Even though IC trains are advertised with compulsory seat reservation, they actually do sell 2nd class tickets with no seat guarantee (which means you will be travelling standing at your own risk). (3) That is the entire idea of being in 1st class: You don't pay for a better seat, you pay for some more space, marginally more polite co-passengers, and a guarantee of no standing passangers above your head. On internal services, it's very rare for 1st class to cost more that 50% more, so it's a no-brainer. In summary: If you want to travel in reasonable comfort, always get 1st class. And NEVER use TLK unless you want to risk a 1980s rail fan experience. Never. (If you do want that, however, then hurry, since I've heard they will be phased out soon.) Greetings from Poznań!
You think that is overcrowded, try the lines from Staines into London Waterloo at rush hour. If it is a 5 car train instead of a 10 car train then it is as packed as sardines in a tin
I once stood in the vestibule from Innsbruck to Verona as to avoid sitting in a total awks 1st compartment. Yes, thats a 3 hr+ jounrey standing up!! But I loved it. That is the JOY of being able to do what you want when traveling alone.
Sorry but I don’t see where the nightmare title comes in? Booking issue aside - which is a rare occurrence, the full train shouldn’t impact you at all because you still had a booked seat. Also the loco swap only happens occasionally, 90% of the time the same loco hauls it all the way to Kraków.
I was expecting some disaster trip based on the title of this video. Seems like everything was exceptional except PKP didn't cater to your specific seat preference (how would they know you hate 4 table seats so much??) and made a slight error not seating you next to a window. That said, I guess you got me to click and even comment! Foolish me... well done.
I agree, the only bad thing in that video is the overcrowded train. But as he had a seat reservation, he shouldn't have to worry about the overcrowding. As for specific seat prefernce, when you buy a ticket online, there is an option to choose a particular seat number (if it's free of course), and you can even view a map of the coach and see where that seat is located.
It doesn't look like wheat beer, Dylan, that's just standard polish lager. Back to the rest of the video. Price and quality of the journey are just about right. I can imagine if you buy the tickets in 2 stages it would be cheaper. Berlin to border etc.
Either there was a mistake in seat numbering on the train or you mush have made a mistake. In PKP IC seat numbering convention a seat with 2 at the end, such as 82 will always be by the window.
"Nightmare Journey" Try being a football fan trying to get home from an away day. Also £60 for an 8 hour intl journey, expensive? It costs £60 just to get from Bristol to Reading most days in the UK, a journey time of an hour.
For a UK person, It is normal for there to be more people than seats, even during off peak times. XC (Cross Country) and EMR (East Midlands Railway) trains are only a few carriages long and I had to stand for at least some of the journey on those TOCs. Sounds like a perfect opportunity for double deckers until you realize we have a restricted loading gauge. Overcrowding would be uncommon if rail passengers didn't increase significantly.
As a Pole, i can say that it's a kind of magic !🪄✨ Either you like traveling by trains here, which have their adventages & disadvantages or you need to change the means of transport 😊
The price is really reasonable to me. It costs more to go from Secaucus NJ to NYC. What's that? A 20 min trip? The train is very nice, clean and quiet. Europe is so much better at rail travel than here in the US. I did like my trip across country from Boston to San Francisco though. I paid for a sleeper for my son & I so we got free meals. (excellent) This was 2001 so it might be different now. It took 3 days and cost over $3000 for 2.
Fun Fact. The film starts in Berlin, but at time 0:13 you can see an advert in Berlin written in Polish language: "Aby Berlin pozostał naszym domem". (Let Berlin remain our home). Nice. Even if you are in Berlin, you can see posters written in Polish.
Polish trains are perhaps one of my favourites in Europe. Polish trains have the best dining car in my opinion. You can’t go wrong with pierogi and Polish beer. You spent the video moaning about the train being crowded. Maybe you should have gone for the 1st class ticket after all?
Well obviously trains are usually crowded in Poland considering they are the best long range transportation option in PL if u don't mind them being sometimes behind the schedule.
1'st class is not about the seating (and you do get a complementary snack at least from my experience with 1'st class) it is mostly about the piece and quiet. 1'st class never gets crowded (again at least from my experience) and people riding it usually keep quiet.
I love your videos mate. I took the train from cologne to Heidelberg last month. Went to Heidelberg castle which is awesome and beautiful. Has a monorail and a funicular. Worth doing if your ever in that part of Deutschland
I find it fascinating that loco hauled seems to be the default in Europe outside the UK. This is the week that we lost most of the TPE nova 3s and XC HSTs, leaving pretty much all of England's fleet either DMUs or EMUs
Well, we used to have the Mark 3 coaches which were being towed by a Class 90 loco. This was on Greater Anglia until (ca.) late 2019. I also miss those slam doors. I love to open doors manually (the handle is on the outside and to open it from the inside, you open the window first. Can only be done when unlocked at a station). Think the same happened on GWR until OLE (overhead line equipment) was installed. Also, the ICE family is an EMU.
Most countries change to EMU nowadays. Switzerland, Germany, Austria (new Railjet + old railjets do have a loco but are operated like a EMU), France, Italy, etc…. For most parts you will still find loco hauled trains on border crossing trains and within Eastern Europe.
Multiple units are better in starting and stopping, particularly in poor traction (leaves on the line, wet rail). They allow more passenger space for the same length train. They are necessary for services with lots of closely-spaced stops. Loco-hauled is cheaper in acquisition and maintenance, and are also quieter in the cabin, so they're better on long distance services.
Dylan, when did you record this? I was in Berlin last month and no-one was wearing masks. I travelled by train, Amsterdam-Berlin on a loco hauled ICE train, 5+ hours journey time, train arrived 30+ minutes late, the air con failed and the buffet had only a limited range of foods (Luckily I had some with me anyway). This was in a compartment coach in 1st class, last coach in the train (great rear window views), overall a dissapointing experience. DB is not what it is cracked up to be. In part watching your videos over lockdown inspired me to use the railways instead of flying!
My granddad was once going through Poland on a train. Unfortunately he was called a nazi just because he was German. Then again it was in 1943 and he was wearing a nazi uniform...
This is one of the most crowded trains because it runs from Berlin to the Ukrainian border through densely populated areas. 1/3 of the passengers are Ukrainians, often with large suitcases and children. The composition is not the newest and often suffered delays in Germany
One considers you protest too much. Paying £60 for first class on an 7-8 hour journey in a non-standing-room-only carriage would be the fare of choice. My experience of PKP first class from Warsaw to Berlin certainly included complimentary liquid refreshment. As for trains being busy-------never heard of that before especially on services from Waterloo.
If that journey has been in the uk, you’d find the price would be way more than what you’d pay. The seat would have been as spacious as it was and this we certainly wouldnt have been a dining car as they don’t exist. For the 8hr journey, I certainly would have paid 1st class price of it didn’t mean I wouldn’t have had to stand up. PKP put a lot of western rail operators to shame for the cost of travel and standard of service you get.
Rather than going Dublin or Manchester to Krackow on Ryanair, I’d sooner go by train to Poland via the Channel Tunnel and Paris/Berlin - I don’t speak German or Polish, so I’d probably struggle with the language when presenting an Irish passport at any border checks and living 21 years in Manchester, unless the train staff and border guards spoke English
It's a lovely trip, the problem is it's almost always more expensive. Not sure how much from Ireland, but from London to Kraków it's around €150 if you book 6-8 weeks in advance. Still, you get to pause for lunch in Paris or Amsterdam, then choose your route between Switzerland and Prague or North Germany then onto this Berlin-Krakow train. Takes just under 24 hours door to door without rushing.
Ive ridden the train a few times through the border, and no checks happened. Its the Schengen zone. I think it’s a myth because there used to be checks but during Covid. The best way to go to Poland would probably be to take Eurostar to Brussels then transfer to European sleeper (night train with couchette etc) to Berlin and then this train (WAWEL). For the true Polish railway experience reserve a compartment seat!
@@szymex22 Well no, it's not a myth - it happens often, and I've missed connections in Berlin because of it. We're also about to be kicked out of Schengen de facto, so it will happen more.
These aren't 1980s coaches at all! Most carriages shown in the video are 15(x)A and 16(x)A HCP Z1's newly built between 2009 and around 2015. Most old refurbished Polish coaches aren't certified to opperate in Germany, so EuroCity trains tend to consist of coaches built from the 90s and up.
It’s very rare these days to see compartments on any train anywhere in Europe, so seeing 2nd class compartments on this Polish train is a big win for me - rather than first class that does not have compartments, I would choose a compartment, even as a solo traveller and even if not sleeping - I can only guess that luggage can be stored in that compartment too, as a compartment is my personal preference
PKP IC have a lot of compartments, my impression is that you have to try hard if you want an open coach. In high summer, an open coach is safer in case the A/C is misbehaving. Yes, PKP have some very bad overcrowding but my experience is that it's mostly Friday and Sunday afternoon and evenings plus public holidays. It's not normally that bad midweek.
there are indeed a lot of luggage space in overhead racks in compartments, generally more than enough for 6 people traveling relatively heavy. In general how many compartemt cars there will be depends on service. TLK services are made mostly of compartment cars with just one or two open cars, but you can still find old 8-seat compartments which aren't fun and dont have electrical outlets. IC services are either EMUs which are open-only or loco hauled which usually are 50/50 open compartment. EIC are generally similar to lico hauled ICs although they are guaranteed to have a restaurant car while IC may have ona but not always(but all EMUs have small one) and TLKs never have one. Finally all EIP services use pendolinos, which have just three compartments per unit, but these are generally reserved for families with children and kinda hard to book alone, generaly only ladt minute.
I’m interested to know; when you went to the dining car to eat can you not reserve the seat you left and then return to it after you had finish eating? I’m also guessing once you’ve finished eating they chuck you out the dining car too? I’m also guessing you were standing for the remainder of your journey after eating?
You can go back to your reserved seat. You have to go past the pople in the vestibules, which maybe he didn't want to do, idk? If there's someone in your reserved seat just show them your ticket and they'll give it up for you. Though one time when I did that a young, blonde cu... I mean lady, went "Jesus, uh..." and rolled her eyes as if I were the one in the wrong. Oh, well.
The train was driven by Polish locomotives throughout the entire route. Just read the signs. A Siemens EuroSprinter locomotive manufactured by Siemens was connected in Berlin. Owned by the InterCity company. In Poland, they received the name EU45 (in the case shown in the film) and the common name "Husarz". Poland has been preparing to increase the speed on its buses for years. Initially, it is supposed to be 250 km/h, but this is not the target speed. Tests are being carried out and tracks and communication systems are being prepared. Ultimately, speeds above 500 km/h are planned. We'll see what comes of it. I would have to delve into political issues here, and this is not that type of channel. If you have problems reading your ticket, you should contact the train staff.
"Nightmare" my ass. It's like me picking tthe busiest bus ride and complaining there are a lot of people. C'mon dude. Giving up your seat is total bullshit too, you have your seat reserved, you don't move and if anything happens you can go to the train's conductors. Are these the best trains out there? Obviously not. But you've clearly never seen or ridde. a 1980 carriage.
Picture quality is excellent as usual but your title implies something much worse than than your actual commentary. How was the ride quality especially in the restaurant car?
Once all seats are reserved, they start to sell tickets "without a seat guarantee" - essentially, standing tickets - because a lot of people want to travel this route, there's almost always a high demand.
you say there's not much difference to justify paying extra for the 1st class, and that the train was overcrowded - so this is the difference. When 2nd class gets overcrowded you can upgrade to the 1st class while on the train, paying the difference to the train conductor.
The headline is just irrelevant to the content and seems to seeks a cheap sensation. It's impossible to understand the "overcrowded" complaint. All seats were under reservation. It's like complaining that a plane is overcrowded because all the seats have passengers. The cars are not from the 1980's. You were misinformed.
Didn't you see the people standing? Besides all seats having passengers, there were also people who didn't have a seat and had to stand wherever possible. This happens quite commonly on that route as it is very popular and there's a high number of people wanting to travel. Once all seats are sold out, they begin to sell tickets "without a seat guarantee", so basically standing ones. That leads to train being overcrowded.
I wonder if your carriage was scheduled to have compartments and was swapped for a saloon one so the seats were messed up. Generally a good service. What I don't understand is why PKP can't make the see trajns longer when needed. Can thr locomotive not haul more coaches? Are platforms too short? Do they just not have more coaches? Even when millions of Ukrainians were coming on those trains into Germany, they weren't made longer.
Polish railway network was hugely neglected in 90s,2000s, thats because polish state had no money to properly maintain and invest in railroads. Its getting better and better last few years, old rail stations are getting properly renovated, finally rails and carriages are getting some love
![[ENGSUB] UNPRODUCTIVE DAY ใช้ชีวิต (เปื่อยๆ) ด้วยกัน 1 วัน! | OUROAD CLOSEFRiEND SS2 EP.9](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/pyYKZ3kra9w/mqdefault.jpg)
Let me correct a few things in this video:
- coaches from late 1980s aren't even approved for traffic in Germany, in fact the coach you were riding in was manufactured in 2010
- seat 82 was in fact a window seat, it's visible at 5:35 (far left, with two hangers above; during this timestamp you were sitting on seat 95)
- you don't have to "give up" your seat as you have seat reservation
yeah i didn't understand the 'giving up' part either. Also this video looks around 1-3 years old because of everyone wearing masks.
@@TheSameWorldin Germany, if you don't occupy your seat within 15 minutes of the departure, you lose the reservation.
Have to disagree on the "nightmare journey" heading. If you want nightmares, come to the US and ride Amtrak. I've ridden pkp intercity throughout Poland and it's always been a great experience at a fantastic price. Krakow is a wonderful city!
25€ for 7 hours? Don’t get him at all, too spoiled probably.
No doubt...Im from the states and I'll never ride Amtrak again. I've been on many of their routes. I go to Europe every summer with a Eurail pass. I'll take European trains over Amtrak any day.
I went first class on an intercity train in Poland and got served a delicious bacon roll of some kind. The trains there are excellent overall in terms of value.
I'm nearly halfway through the video and cannot see any nightmare...a bit crappy not to get the seat booked but bearable. Looks great for legroom and power supply
Dylan did the Amtrak. Some with himself, some videos with his wifey.
They've done a really good job refurbishing those carriages. Spacious and comfortable. You can see that people also don't litter, or put shoes on seats.
Post-2000 new series, not refurbished.
I love trains ❤🚄🚅🚈🚝
I have a folder about ''transportation''
thank you chou chou chouuuu : ))))
Yes, definitely better than in 1990's. I am always comfortable in train and my only wonder is to have a seat facing forward.❤
1980's carriages ? The only thing left from the 1980's in those carriages is the metal frame which is also sand blasted and painted and everything else is brand new. It is essentially a brand new carriage that is a little bit cheaper than a new one. You can also tell that the video is a few years old because of the face masks worn by some passangers and the Legnica train station looking horrible before the renovation began.
Labeling this a nightmare journey just because the train was a little overcrowded? Mate, you wouldn't last a minute in the Balkans or on some of the trains Superalbs has been on. Heck, Simply Railway is more butch than you, and he's French!
He needs ££$$$$$ so it is a Clickbait !!
@@iCE2sKY If I were him I'd get a real job.
@@MIMALECKIPL absolutely !!!!!
I'm from Poland. I love Polish IC trains. It's comfortable indeed and cheaper than travelling (1 or 2 people) by car. Best way to travell between bigger towns.
You are extremely well informed. I'm from the UK and have been living in PL for 2 decades or more. Both the road and rail network have improved significantly in this period. It's true that the max. rail speed in most parts is 100mph. Your pronunciation of Polish cities is good too. 60GBP for 1st class isn't too bad considering the cost for much worse in the UK.
Apart from referring to dem coaches as dating back to late 1980's he's pretty spot on.
We travelled on Polish Rail from Warsaw to Gdańsk and from there to Krakow, very comfortable, clean and on time performance. A wonderful experience at a very reasonable cost! The dining car meant could have been better by for short journeys it’s Ok. 🎉
On all PKP IC coaches that have airplane-style seats, seat numbers ending in 1,2,5,6 are ALWAYS window seats, so it's likely that someone just sat on yours and you should ask them to move.
It's maybe because the south of Poland is the most populated region of Poland (8 mln people living within 100 km from Krakow; Krakow's and Wroclaw's metropolitan area ~ 1.5 mln people and Katowice's metropolitan area ~2.5 mln people)
I do not agree what about Tricity and their population and Warsaw?
@@michalk5262 Tricity's population (Gdańsk+Gdynia+Sopot) is about 750k, its metropolitan area ~1 mln, Warsaw's population - 1.9 mln and its metropolitan area ~3 mln. So it's way less than 8 mln
I don’t think that Polish trains aren’t that bad to be honest. Most of the trains used in Poland are actually very nice and reliable.
I love your train videos, Dylan. As an American, I'm jealous of Europe's passenger trains. I wish our trains where that easy and affordable. Most of our trains will cost $50 or higher (depending on the trip). Twenty- six dollars is pocket change when compared to our trains. Loved the Polish and German scenery.
Pozdrowienia z Polski 😊
Why the sensationalist title? This train ride seemed much nicer than others and its frigging cheap!
I'm not sure what you meant by abandoning your reserved seat. Did you stand for half of the journey? If so, why did you do that? If you have a seat reservation, if someone seats in your place, you just show them your ticket and they will move. It was unfortunate that your seat was incorrectly marked as a window seat, but if you decided to stand than I can't really understand why. Aisle seat is still better than standing...
It's a train that goes between the second and the third largest city in Poland, through the most densely populated area of the country. I'd expect it to be crowded.
The real problem is that they aren't running enough trains. IIRC there's 1 to 2 hours between each intercity train on this stretch - given how crowded the trains are, they should certainly run more intercity trains. Many of these intercity trains have mandatory seat reservations and get sold out several days in advance, which means that everybody who couldn't get a ticket in time crowds themselves onto the few trains that don't have mandatory reservations.
@@wasmic5z ofc they should have been running trains more offen, but there is massive problem with rail capacity between Głogów and Kraków (mostly caused by very outdated signalling system and lack of infrastracture). Problem with crowded trains is also caused by the PKP Intercity company itself, they are selling tickets for not emu trains until they reach around 120% of train capacity.
I'd expect them to run more trains.
Yes, you would expect it to be _busy_ ... but not full and standing throughout the train.
@@wasmic5z Well, IC trains aren't the only users of the rails, cargo has to go too, and trucks aren't option for large coal transport.
@@MIMALECKIPL I did take the same line on a regional train too (going in the other direction), and there weren't very many trains running. Of course, if the signalling system is very old, then the line might be near capacity despite the relatively few trains. But that just means that the line desperately needs to be upgraded with better signals and higher capacity!
The Eurocity/Intercity trains are the upper end of rail services in Poland. Usually too costly for daily use, if you don't get a monthly ticket or book early. But they sure managed to catch up to European standard in looks and finishes over the last 20+ years. On the TLK routes you can find much older coaches, sometimes not even airconditioned nor with updated livery.
A month ago while going from Krakow to Warsaw my and 5 other people seats didn't exist. We supposed it was because PKP sold tickets for a normal carriage but used a combo seating/bike rack carriage instead. We talked to the conductor and he was real nice and gave us access to a stuff compartment instead. This was the only bad experience I had with PKP but I think it was resolved quite tolerably.
This happens surprisingly frequently
couple years ago when visiting my ldr partner, it was not uncommon for me to seat in the corridor, the corridor was actually so full of people that it was hard to get to the other side of the carriage. We all had tickets, they just didn't have seats..
Polish Pendolino ED250 got homologation in Germany, so we can expect it going there in 2025 :D
@@davieee1168 Just google "ED250 niemcy", open the first result and translate it
Where is the nightmare journey at?
Just FYI, the checks going from Germany to Poland aren't so frequent - in the other direction at times it's every single service. It's caused real issues because the posted timetable is irrelevant when it doesn't allow for 1 hour of German police deciding to unilaterally suspend Schengen...
Most of the refugees entering Germany in 2023 come through Poland. Thsts the reason why checks are made at the border.
My train from Prague to Munich was basically cancelled after the German border police held it on border for about 45 minutes, so the other train, which was supposed to pull our carriages simply left us behind. Unpredictability of this causes lots of annoyances to the customers, as well as financial damage and timetable disruption to the railway companies.
@@CZpersi Oh that train has a terrible reputation. Obviously lots of tourists use it (always Americans on there, who get confused over how to use trains at the best of times) and the Alex carriages from Munich are often without air con and massively overcrowded. Meanwhile the CD ones are modern and fine, just nobody notices they've got that option after Plzen.
@@CZpersi We need to stop the illegal immigration to EU and such problems will be automatically resolved.
Well, Dylan, I'm a regular viewer, so thank you, and time to pay for all your effort with some comments: (1) Polish trains are like this for two rather simple chief reasons, (a) insufficient frequency, (b) reasonable pricing. (2) The other reason is corporate policy: Even though IC trains are advertised with compulsory seat reservation, they actually do sell 2nd class tickets with no seat guarantee (which means you will be travelling standing at your own risk). (3) That is the entire idea of being in 1st class: You don't pay for a better seat, you pay for some more space, marginally more polite co-passengers, and a guarantee of no standing passangers above your head. On internal services, it's very rare for 1st class to cost more that 50% more, so it's a no-brainer. In summary: If you want to travel in reasonable comfort, always get 1st class. And NEVER use TLK unless you want to risk a 1980s rail fan experience. Never. (If you do want that, however, then hurry, since I've heard they will be phased out soon.) Greetings from Poznań!
Bardzo dobry komentarz, pozdro z Krk-a
Only take a TLK if you have to and if it’s cold outside. There’s no AC.
I would opt for 1st class for this journey. What would it be an extra 10 quid?
You think that is overcrowded, try the lines from Staines into London Waterloo at rush hour. If it is a 5 car train instead of a 10 car train then it is as packed as sardines in a tin
This was filmed in 2021 but posted as new? Going onto Simply to see what he has tonight.
I once stood in the vestibule from Innsbruck to Verona as to avoid sitting in a total awks 1st compartment. Yes, thats a 3 hr+ jounrey standing up!! But I loved it. That is the JOY of being able to do what you want when traveling alone.
Looks good. It takes you from point A to point B. What else to expect?
I did the Czestochowa to Krakow back in 2010. The rolling stock was much older but had plenty of character 👍
Sorry but I don’t see where the nightmare title comes in? Booking issue aside - which is a rare occurrence, the full train shouldn’t impact you at all because you still had a booked seat. Also the loco swap only happens occasionally, 90% of the time the same loco hauls it all the way to Kraków.
I was expecting some disaster trip based on the title of this video. Seems like everything was exceptional except PKP didn't cater to your specific seat preference (how would they know you hate 4 table seats so much??) and made a slight error not seating you next to a window. That said, I guess you got me to click and even comment! Foolish me... well done.
I agree, the only bad thing in that video is the overcrowded train. But as he had a seat reservation, he shouldn't have to worry about the overcrowding.
As for specific seat prefernce, when you buy a ticket online, there is an option to choose a particular seat number (if it's free of course), and you can even view a map of the coach and see where that seat is located.
It doesn't look like wheat beer, Dylan, that's just standard polish lager. Back to the rest of the video.
Price and quality of the journey are just about right. I can imagine if you buy the tickets in 2 stages it would be cheaper. Berlin to border etc.
Nope. It's the same price as it's calculated by km.
Either there was a mistake in seat numbering on the train or you mush have made a mistake. In PKP IC seat numbering convention a seat with 2 at the end, such as 82 will always be by the window.
The locomotive swap only happens sometimes, it’s due to the limited number of multisystem locos.
That's right. I traveled from Berlin to Katowice on July and we had Siemens engine all the way.
"Nightmare Journey"
Try being a football fan trying to get home from an away day.
Also £60 for an 8 hour intl journey, expensive?
It costs £60 just to get from Bristol to Reading most days in the UK, a journey time of an hour.
158A coach (2nd class with bicycle space) is from 2013/2014 :)
Dylan. If you ever go to Poland again, you have to try the racuchy which are like apple pancakes. Trust me they are delicious
I’ve actually done this journey but in reverse
For a UK person, It is normal for there to be more people than seats, even during off peak times. XC (Cross Country) and EMR (East Midlands Railway) trains are only a few carriages long and I had to stand for at least some of the journey on those TOCs. Sounds like a perfect opportunity for double deckers until you realize we have a restricted loading gauge. Overcrowding would be uncommon if rail passengers didn't increase significantly.
THANK YOU
I'm sorry but I'm not sure if i missed the answer for question in the subject?
All Polish trains are like WHAT? Crowded? That's what you mean?
You don't know what nightmare is :)
Not sure where this “overcrowding” you saw!?! Two people who were standing you consider overcrowding???
Nice video, Dylan. Finally, you've taken my advice to get your coffee early. 👋👋😄Nice train. I'll keep this one in mind.
What nightmare? What you did not like?
As a Pole, i can say that it's a kind of magic !🪄✨ Either you like traveling by trains here, which have their adventages & disadvantages or you need to change the means of transport 😊
The food looked great. 1st class was a big let down, unlike some you had a seat lol. Thank you.
Lucky to have a descent Rail system for people the railway system in North America is a joke only for tourists! Not for moveing people !
the railway system in North America is intended for moving cargo. In fact, the US is quite successful in that regard compared to European countries
The price is really reasonable to me. It costs more to go from Secaucus NJ to NYC. What's that? A 20 min trip?
The train is very nice, clean and quiet. Europe is so much better at rail travel than here in the US. I did like my trip across country from Boston to San Francisco though. I paid for a sleeper for my son & I so we got free meals. (excellent) This was 2001 so it might be different now. It took 3 days and cost over $3000 for 2.
What u paid 3000 Mexican pesos
Fun Fact. The film starts in Berlin, but at time 0:13 you can see an advert in Berlin written in Polish language: "Aby Berlin pozostał naszym domem". (Let Berlin remain our home). Nice. Even if you are in Berlin, you can see posters written in Polish.
Those posters were made in all different languages. It was about local Berlin referendum.
@@marcinkwiatkowski9926 OK. But you know - this is the video about a train to Poland - so there is a nice connection
Very nice video. BTW, I love Pierogie. Cheers.
Polish trains are perhaps one of my favourites in Europe. Polish trains have the best dining car in my opinion. You can’t go wrong with pierogi and Polish beer. You spent the video moaning about the train being crowded. Maybe you should have gone for the 1st class ticket after all?
Polish IC trains, are only in Europe to have real kitchens, where food is really cooked. Not ready crapy stuff from microwave.
That meal looked delicious, did you lose your seat? Great informative video 😊
Its all with Reservation there
The coach that you were riding is way newer than late 1980s.
I saw this train when I was in Berlin this month. Love the livery
Good warning about the 1st situation, thank you.
Great video !!
Well obviously trains are usually crowded in Poland considering they are the best long range transportation option in PL if u don't mind them being sometimes behind the schedule.
1'st class is not about the seating (and you do get a complementary snack at least from my experience with 1'st class) it is mostly about the piece and quiet. 1'st class never gets crowded (again at least from my experience) and people riding it usually keep quiet.
Why do you stand? I think you'd have a seat reservation?
I love your videos mate. I took the train from cologne to Heidelberg last month. Went to Heidelberg castle which is awesome and beautiful. Has a monorail and a funicular. Worth doing if your ever in that part of Deutschland
I find it fascinating that loco hauled seems to be the default in Europe outside the UK. This is the week that we lost most of the TPE nova 3s and XC HSTs, leaving pretty much all of England's fleet either DMUs or EMUs
it depends on the country though. in the Netherlands basically all trains are EMUs for example. only the odd international train is loco hauled.
Well, we used to have the Mark 3 coaches which were being towed by a Class 90 loco. This was on Greater Anglia until (ca.) late 2019. I also miss those slam doors. I love to open doors manually (the handle is on the outside and to open it from the inside, you open the window first. Can only be done when unlocked at a station). Think the same happened on GWR until OLE (overhead line equipment) was installed. Also, the ICE family is an EMU.
Most countries change to EMU nowadays. Switzerland, Germany, Austria (new Railjet + old railjets do have a loco but are operated like a EMU), France, Italy, etc…. For most parts you will still find loco hauled trains on border crossing trains and within Eastern Europe.
Multiple units are better in starting and stopping, particularly in poor traction (leaves on the line, wet rail). They allow more passenger space for the same length train. They are necessary for services with lots of closely-spaced stops. Loco-hauled is cheaper in acquisition and maintenance, and are also quieter in the cabin, so they're better on long distance services.
@@straightpipediesel Although if it's an electric train then the difference in noise and comfort between loco-hauled carriages and an EMU is minimal.
Overcrowded? Have you been in Virgin Train London - Manchester?
Dylan, when did you record this? I was in Berlin last month and no-one was wearing masks. I travelled by train, Amsterdam-Berlin on a loco hauled ICE train, 5+ hours journey time, train arrived 30+ minutes late, the air con failed and the buffet had only a limited range of foods (Luckily I had some with me anyway). This was in a compartment coach in 1st class, last coach in the train (great rear window views), overall a dissapointing experience. DB is not what it is cracked up to be. In part watching your videos over lockdown inspired me to use the railways instead of flying!
It says there in the description that the journey took place in September 2021
Can you explain what did you exactly expected from travel Berlin to Krakow? What went wrong? Can't catch what u meant 🤔
My granddad was once going through Poland on a train. Unfortunately he was called a nazi just because he was German. Then again it was in 1943 and he was wearing a nazi uniform...
:)))))))) good one
This is one of the most crowded trains because it runs from Berlin to the Ukrainian border through densely populated areas. 1/3 of the passengers are Ukrainians, often with large suitcases and children. The composition is not the newest and often suffered delays in Germany
I often travel this train from Cracow to Rzeszów and it often happen to be fully booked
One considers you protest too much. Paying £60 for first class on an 7-8 hour journey in a non-standing-room-only carriage would be the fare of choice. My experience of PKP first class from Warsaw to Berlin certainly included complimentary liquid refreshment. As for trains being busy-------never heard of that before especially on services from Waterloo.
"This week, we travel... Date of Travel: September 2021"
Groundhog week?
Where is the problem? Why "nightmare"?
Just terrible, terrible review...
Damn, those food prices were amazing.
So...where's the "nightmare" part?
If that journey has been in the uk, you’d find the price would be way more than what you’d pay. The seat would have been as spacious as it was and this we certainly wouldnt have been a dining car as they don’t exist. For the 8hr journey, I certainly would have paid 1st class price of it didn’t mean I wouldn’t have had to stand up. PKP put a lot of western rail operators to shame for the cost of travel and standard of service you get.
Where is that nightmare?
Rather than going Dublin or Manchester to Krackow on Ryanair, I’d sooner go by train to Poland via the Channel Tunnel and Paris/Berlin - I don’t speak German or Polish, so I’d probably struggle with the language when presenting an Irish passport at any border checks and living 21 years in Manchester, unless the train staff and border guards spoke English
Border checks?
You really would not have a problem at all as English is widely spoken in Poland anyway. Just go and enjoy!
It's a lovely trip, the problem is it's almost always more expensive. Not sure how much from Ireland, but from London to Kraków it's around €150 if you book 6-8 weeks in advance. Still, you get to pause for lunch in Paris or Amsterdam, then choose your route between Switzerland and Prague or North Germany then onto this Berlin-Krakow train. Takes just under 24 hours door to door without rushing.
Ive ridden the train a few times through the border, and no checks happened. Its the Schengen zone. I think it’s a myth because there used to be checks but during Covid.
The best way to go to Poland would probably be to take Eurostar to Brussels then transfer to European sleeper (night train with couchette etc) to Berlin and then this train (WAWEL). For the true Polish railway experience reserve a compartment seat!
@@szymex22 Well no, it's not a myth - it happens often, and I've missed connections in Berlin because of it. We're also about to be kicked out of Schengen de facto, so it will happen more.
These aren't 1980s coaches at all! Most carriages shown in the video are 15(x)A and 16(x)A HCP Z1's newly built between 2009 and around 2015. Most old refurbished Polish coaches aren't certified to opperate in Germany, so EuroCity trains tend to consist of coaches built from the 90s and up.
It’s very rare these days to see compartments on any train anywhere in Europe, so seeing 2nd class compartments on this Polish train is a big win for me - rather than first class that does not have compartments, I would choose a compartment, even as a solo traveller and even if not sleeping - I can only guess that luggage can be stored in that compartment too, as a compartment is my personal preference
PKP IC have a lot of compartments, my impression is that you have to try hard if you want an open coach. In high summer, an open coach is safer in case the A/C is misbehaving.
Yes, PKP have some very bad overcrowding but my experience is that it's mostly Friday and Sunday afternoon and evenings plus public holidays. It's not normally that bad midweek.
there are indeed a lot of luggage space in overhead racks in compartments, generally more than enough for 6 people traveling relatively heavy. In general how many compartemt cars there will be depends on service. TLK services are made mostly of compartment cars with just one or two open cars, but you can still find old 8-seat compartments which aren't fun and dont have electrical outlets. IC services are either EMUs which are open-only or loco hauled which usually are 50/50 open compartment. EIC are generally similar to lico hauled ICs although they are guaranteed to have a restaurant car while IC may have ona but not always(but all EMUs have small one) and TLKs never have one. Finally all EIP services use pendolinos, which have just three compartments per unit, but these are generally reserved for families with children and kinda hard to book alone, generaly only ladt minute.
holy shit only 20 min? that must be record for PKP
Great video Dylan.
That beer is definitely not a wheat beer. Maybe a standard Tyskie?
I’m interested to know; when you went to the dining car to eat can you not reserve the seat you left and then return to it after you had finish eating? I’m also guessing once you’ve finished eating they chuck you out the dining car too? I’m also guessing you were standing for the remainder of your journey after eating?
You can go back to your reserved seat. You have to go past the pople in the vestibules, which maybe he didn't want to do, idk? If there's someone in your reserved seat just show them your ticket and they'll give it up for you. Though one time when I did that a young, blonde cu... I mean lady, went "Jesus, uh..." and rolled her eyes as if I were the one in the wrong. Oh, well.
256th like so full colors in all channels .. just joking ... another great video :D
The train station in Berlin sure has a lot of natural light. I think you look a lot better with the short hair instead of the perm style, as well 😊.
The train was driven by Polish locomotives throughout the entire route. Just read the signs. A Siemens EuroSprinter locomotive manufactured by Siemens was connected in Berlin. Owned by the InterCity company. In Poland, they received the name EU45 (in the case shown in the film) and the common name "Husarz".
Poland has been preparing to increase the speed on its buses for years. Initially, it is supposed to be 250 km/h, but this is not the target speed. Tests are being carried out and tracks and communication systems are being prepared. Ultimately, speeds above 500 km/h are planned.
We'll see what comes of it. I would have to delve into political issues here, and this is not that type of channel.
If you have problems reading your ticket, you should contact the train staff.
Cool.
What day did you travel on? Im sure it may depend on what day of week whether it is more crowded or not.
Hi what app use yo check speed on the train?
Many thanks
Nie bardzo rozumiem o co chodzi ?? W czym problem ?? 🤫
Nikt nie rozumie, z wyjątkiem tego płaczącego "nightmare" dziecka...
"Nightmare" my ass. It's like me picking tthe busiest bus ride and complaining there are a lot of people. C'mon dude.
Giving up your seat is total bullshit too, you have your seat reserved, you don't move and if anything happens you can go to the train's conductors.
Are these the best trains out there? Obviously not. But you've clearly never seen or ridde. a 1980 carriage.
Thank you, maybe next time I got train instead of renting car. Looks like it is good price to travel.
4:02 You didn't check what kind of coach it is and how the seats are located in it - the only guilty person is you.
Picture quality is excellent as usual but your title implies something much worse than than your actual commentary. How was the ride quality especially in the restaurant car?
Bardzo ładne wideo i ja jestem od Polski.
I thought reservations are compulsary on PKP IC?
Once all seats are reserved, they start to sell tickets "without a seat guarantee" - essentially, standing tickets - because a lot of people want to travel this route, there's almost always a high demand.
Can't go wrong with the price.
you say there's not much difference to justify paying extra for the 1st class, and that the train was overcrowded - so this is the difference. When 2nd class gets overcrowded you can upgrade to the 1st class while on the train, paying the difference to the train conductor.
First class is fantastic if you are traveling with a few friends
Nightmare journey !!! Mrs softly. Did you cry all night.
😅😂
11:52 What app is that which you are using to measure the train's speed?
The headline is just irrelevant to the content and seems to seeks a cheap sensation. It's impossible to understand the "overcrowded" complaint. All seats were under reservation. It's like complaining that a plane is overcrowded because all the seats have passengers. The cars are not from the 1980's. You were misinformed.
Didn't you see the people standing? Besides all seats having passengers, there were also people who didn't have a seat and had to stand wherever possible. This happens quite commonly on that route as it is very popular and there's a high number of people wanting to travel. Once all seats are sold out, they begin to sell tickets "without a seat guarantee", so basically standing ones. That leads to train being overcrowded.
I wonder if your carriage was scheduled to have compartments and was swapped for a saloon one so the seats were messed up. Generally a good service.
What I don't understand is why PKP can't make the see trajns longer when needed. Can thr locomotive not haul more coaches? Are platforms too short? Do they just not have more coaches? Even when millions of Ukrainians were coming on those trains into Germany, they weren't made longer.
Polish railway network was hugely neglected in 90s,2000s, thats because polish state had no money to properly maintain and invest in railroads. Its getting better and better last few years, old rail stations are getting properly renovated, finally rails and carriages are getting some love
There's another advantage of first class - all that crowd in second class didn't pay extra for first class 😉
what is the name of the application that shows the speed? please
no fajnie ale nie daje mi spokoju dlaczego Dylanowi ponad 2 lata zeszło na zmontowanie i wrzucenie filmu