To Warsaw in style, at a leisurely pace

I turned up to Łódź Fabryczna station and discovered to my delight that I'd be returning to Warsaw in a brand-new train (above). Note the contrast with the elderly EN-57 stock to its right. Any hopes of a speedy return home were dashed by a quick glance at the timetable; two hours and 24 minutes to cover the 85 miles. That's an average speed of just 35 miles an hour! The distance between Warsaw and Łódz is the same as that between London and Rugby. The West Coast Main Line service would cover that distance in a mere 50 minutes - back in the 1970s!

Once the track has been modernised and adapted for higher speeds, we are promised (by 2010) that the journey time will be reduced to 60 minutes. Until then, anyone travelling between the two cities has a choice between two and half hours by rail or a similar time by road.

At least the train is smart, and with clean toilets. And an LED indicator telling you that you're averaging 30 miles an hour.

UPDATE October 2008 - Łódź-W-Wa Zachodnia journey time cut to 1hr 24mins. That LED now reads 125km/h much of the way.