W-wa Zachodnia's Peron 8 (was W-wa Wola)

It is two years to the day that the station formerly called W-wa Wola was renamed W-wa Zachodnia Peron (platform) 8. Standing a quarter of a mile (425 metres) from W-wa Zachodnia's other suburban platforms (2 and 3), the new Peron 8 was rebranded to give passengers the impression of a convenient interchange. It is not. To get to Peron 8, you need to cross the full length of the tunnel that links all seven platforms of the main bit of W-wa Zachodnia, climb a flight of stairs back up to street level, turn left and walk along a car park access road, down a short footpath of broken paving slabs, over several under-used railway tracks until you reach a pedestrian level crossing - over this, and you've reached Peron 8.

The platform serves trains to W-wa Gdańska, Legionowo, Nasielsk, Ciechanów and Działdowo, to the north-north east of Warsaw.

And here it is. Below. W-wa Zachodnia Peron 8, formerly W-wa Wola, created in 1986 on what was a freight-only line, with the intention of allowing workers from the various factories in Wola to get to work more easily.

Below: looking south towards the main line as it heads out towards the west. There is good signage explaining the somewhat distant main part of W-wa Zachodnia (platforms 1 to 7). Note the barriers guarding the pedestrian level crossing. One of the strange things here is the public address system announcing train arrivals and departures at platforms a long way from here, well out of eyeshot of Peron 8.

Below: the train on the left is an SKM service arrived from Wieliszew (north of Warsaw), while the train on the right is an KM service departing for Działdowo. For a Sunday, both services appeared busy. After the SKM train's arrival, a steady stream of people made their way to the main part of W-wa Zachodnia.

It kind of makes sense. W-wa Wola felt like an isolated outpost, a part of Warsaw's rail network without relevance to the wider whole. Now, despite the long walk (imagine this in the pouring rain with heavy bags and yelling children), at least there's some joined-upness about the connection.

UPDATE December 2021: W-wa Zachodnia Peron 8 is renamed W-wa Zachodnia Peron 9, as a new eighth platform is added on to the main part of W-wa Zachodnia.

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