Still takes time to collect fares...

I boarded the southbound train for Chynów at W-wa Jeziorki, and being without a valid ticket for the whole journey, I made my way bezzwłocznie (immediately, without delay, forthwith) to the first compartment of the first carriage from the front of the train to buy said ticket. This is because there's no ticket machine at W-wa Jeziorki. There were four people in front of me queuing for tickets. At Nowa Iwiczna, a woman asked whether she could get her ticket before mine. "Of course," I replied, not being in a hurry. As of September, I can now travel down to Zalesie Górne for free on my Karta Warszawiaka travel pass, so I only need to buy a ticket for the stretch between Zalesie Górne to Chynów and back.

It turns out the woman has a baby in a pram at the back of the train. She boarded at W-wa Okęcie; no ticket machine there either. So station by station, she's made her way from the back of the train to the front to buy her ticket, leaving the baby under the trustful eye of some babcias. She was heading to Zalesie Górne, two stops beyond Nowa Iwiczna. The train headed south as our conductor issued a couple of tickets. Soon, we were approaching Piaseczno station. There was still one person ahead of the woman. She was evidently stressed. At Piaseczno, ticket or no, she had to return to the rear part of the train to get back to her baby in the pram in good time to alight at Zalesie Górne, the very next stop. Her worry was that ticket inspectors would board at Piaseczno and fine her for travelling without a ticket. I could appreciate her predicament. These guys don't take any excuses.

The train slowed down and stopped at Piaseczno. There was still one passenger having his ticket issued. At this point the woman made the decision to go back to her baby and risk getting a fine on the final hop to Zalesie Górne. I watched her run to the back of the train and board just as the conductor blew the whistle. The train departed, the conductor returned to issuing tickets. At the next stop, I looked out and saw the woman being helped with her pram down onto the platform. Looks like she'd make it OK - there were no ticket inspectors working this particular train. And so Koleje Mazowieckie loses revenue from a passenger who was entirely willing, but unable to pay.

It was my turn to buy a ticket. "I would like a ticket from Zalesie Górne to Chynów and back, returning today. I have a Karta Warszawiaka, entitling me to free travel from W-wa Jeziorki to Zalesie Górne, and here is my ID card to prove that I'm entitled to a 30% discount on account of my advanced years." The conductor scans my Karta Warszawiaka, indeed, it is valid. She examines my ID card. "Year of birth, 1957 - yes, that's OK," she says. Now onto the ticket. "Cash or card?" she asks. "Card would be better, as I'm entirely out of loose change," she adds. "Card it must be then!" I reply, having a ten-zloty note and nothing smaller for the 8.84 zł fare. "With a card, I have to do this as two separate transactions," she says. Tapping away at the buttons of her hand-held online ticket machine, she enters the distance of the journey and discount codes, which takes a while, then prints out a single ticket, for which I pay 4.42 złotys with a tap of my credit card on her ticket machine. It prints a confirmation. The whole process is repeated for the return leg of my journey. Again, I touch the machine with my credit card, and a ticket with receipt for the remaining 4.42 zł is printed out.

By this time, the train is arriving at Ustanówek, the next stop. A queue of six people is now standing behind me, each with their own ticket to buy, each with its own discount code. At the rate of one or maybe two passengers served between each station, it's obvious that not everyone will be able to buy a ticket before they reach their destination. Most stations on the Warsaw-Radom line do not have ticket offices or ticket machines.

A couple of weeks ago, I was in this situation myself - it was a weekday morning, I boarded at W-wa Jeziorki and waited obediently in the first compartment of the first carriage from the front of the train for the conductor, who never came. Working their way up the train, they didn't manage in time to get back down to the front before it drew into Chynów. So I got of without paying - although I had every intention of paying.

My point is this - train operator Koleje Mazowieckie is losing significant revenue as a result of clumsy ticketing. Things have moved on - 12 years ago I wrote (here, on my proto-blog) how all this looked before the advent of online handheld ticket machines, and every ticket sold on the train had to be physically written out by hand. In all honesty, it didn't take that much longer!

How many passengers will travel on beyond Chynów - which does have a ticket machine - from all those stations that don't - down the line to Radom? Krężel, Michalczew and Gośniewice, the next three, don't... Below: the 11:46 train leaves Chynów for Radom.

If Koleje Mazowieckie needs some best practice to follow, may I recommend Wrocław's trams. The cashless unmanned ticket machines are simplicity themselves. The fare structure is simplified as far as possible, the passenger chooses which ticket to buy on a touch screen, taps the ticket machine with their credit/debit card, and the contract between the passenger and the tram operator is stored on the passenger's credit/debit card. Paperless. These machines are cheap enough to install two to each tram; no cash, no change, less security, more robust, no moving parts... Koleje Mazowieckie would do well to have these on board the train and leave the conductor to focus on safety and punctuality, rather than fumbling around for small change.

[UPDATE 2022: Koleje Mazowieckie's app now allows the purchase of tickets through your smartphone; the process takes less than one minute.] 

This time last year:
The triple benefits of walking

This time two years ago:
W-wa Jeziorki: new 'up' platform nearly ready

This time three years ago:
Tottenham Court Road station revisited

This time four years ago:
Zen and the Art of Publishing

This time six years ago:
Wrocław, another Polish city of neon

This time seven years ago:
Ronald Reagan remembered

This time eight years ago:
Accident of birth

This time ten years ago:
Under the Liberator

This time 11 years ago:
Jeziorki on old maps