Visitor to Dworzec Centralny

On my way to W-wa Śródmieście from the west, I decided to pass through W-wa Centralna (Dworzec Centralny or Warsaw Central Station) to see how the refurbishment is going. The two middle platforms are now ready, half of platform 1 is still cut off and being worked on.

The refurbishment is a fairly half-hearted affair; more of a spruce-up really to remove decades of grime and stench from the place and to modestly bring it up to internationally acceptable standards (note the raised steel dots at the platform edge to warn blind people). The train indicator on platform 2 is still the old clacking one rather than an LCD screen as visible on platform 3 to the right. (At least it's there, unlike at W-wa Zachodnia which doesn't even have this 1960s technology to inform passengers as to where their train is going to.)

I was surprised to see this - a Czech Railways engine hauling the Łódź to Warsaw express. Apparently, it's been loaned to PKP (note Polish girl's name Kasia painted on the front, suggesting it's a long-term loan). Seeing Czech, Russian, Ukrainian or Belarusian carriages passing through Warsaw is common, but to see locomotives from Poland's neighbours pulling PKP trains is most unusual. Private operators (especially of freight) will more readily use foreign engines.