Jakubowizna to Kraków in the snow

Tips for train travel in Poland during adverse weather conditions.

The programme: Leave the działka at 12:20, catch the 12:49 local train from Chynów to Warka arriving 13:01; catch the 13:19 Kolberg express from Warka to Kraków, arriving at 16:40; then walk (80 minutes) to the hotel.

The reality: more snow fell overnight; it took much effort to push open the front door just to peak out. Since dawn, I’d been following the train portals to see how things were going. Initially – it seemed – not as bad as yesterday, just five to seven minutes’ delay shown – but I feared that the situation would deteriorate. I gave myself an extra few minutes to trudge to Chynów station, given the unploughed state of the street. Along the way, I accepted an invite to New Year’s champagne at my neighbours’, which was nice.

Arriving at Chynów station, I found that – despite what I’d just seen on the portals before setting off – my local train to Warka was now showing a delay of 25 minutes. Meanwhile, the onward express, the Kolberg, from Warka to Kraków, running south from Warsaw along the same track, was delayed by 15 minutes. I was anxious that the local train could be held at any of the intervening stations with a passing track to let the express through. These are Piaseczno, Czachówek Południowy or even Chynów itself – to let the delayed express through. Missing the Kolberg would mean waiting for the Sienkiewicz, which arrives in Kraków at half past six or the Żeromski, which arrives at half past eight (assuming they’re on time).

But all was well – my anxiety relieved to a great extent by the ‘find your train on the map’ function on Portal Pasażera (below - click to expand).

Here, I could see in real time that the Kolberg’s delay was increasing, and that there was no chance that it could catch up and overtake my local train before it reached Warka.

Arriving in Warka with a 25-minute delay, I still had to wait half an hour for the Kolberg, whose delay was becoming longer and longer. As the station clock shows, the train rolled in 36 minutes late.

But no matter. I boarded it, dumped my coat and rucksack on my allocated seats* and made for the Wars restaurant car. 

Here, a digression about the Wars service. It is excellent. Fresh food, freshly prepared. The Kolberg, which had left Olsztyn Główny three hours earlier, has a dining car guaranteed because the service is operated by a Dart electrical multiple unit (always in car no. 3).

 A fellow diner, into his second beer, stood up to applaud the chef for his sandwich making skills. “I too worked in gastronomy in my youth,” he said, “and I am full of admiration for the way you cut and filled those sandwiches”. My order of meatballs, groats, cabbage and beetroot, took all the way from Warka to Lesiów to prepare – but it was fresh, hot, cooked just for me. Washed down by a craft ale, and costing a total of 51 złotys (£9.35), the culinary experience was outstanding, sitting down to eat at a table on a porcelain plate with a steel knife and fork. No plastic, no microwaved rubbish; this meal was cooked to order on the train. 

"Dinner in the diner

Nothing could be finer

Than to have your ham and eggs

In Carolina"

I beg to differ. Pulpety, kasza, surówki i piwo jasne craftowe from Browar Olbracht while crossing from Mazovia into Świętokrzyskie take some beating!

I also found time to praise the chef – this really is one of the highest-quality dining experiences on a train that one can have in Europe. I most certainly appreciate it. In the UK, you'd be standing at a buffet counter eating crisps, packaged sandwiches and tinned lager and paying more for it.

Dusk soon fell (today is the earliest sunset of the year in the Northern Hemisphere), and from Skarżysko-Kamienna, the rest of the journey was in darkness.

Below: somewhere south of Radom, soon after sunset.

I dozed off in a happy state to wake just north of Kraków - the train arrived one hour and 13 minutes late. From the station to my hotel, near the Kraków Technology Park, was a 7.6km walk. Just the thing. The first part of the walk was the epitome of European winter urban style - walking along the Planty avenue that rings the city's Old Town.

Below: tram in the snow. European civilisation.

Below: Wawel Castle - perhaps the most significant single building to the Polish psyche. Think Edinburgh or Windsor Castles; it's of that rank.

Below: along the Vistula's bank. The same river that passes within 10km of my działka, that flows through Warsaw and Toruń, reaching the Baltic in Gdańsk.

* The train was almost full on the stretch between Warsaw and Radom; I managed to get two seats to myself thanks to a glitch in the booking system. Buying a ticket online, you are given a mere two and half minutes to make the payment. The process includes selecting your discount, choosing your seat, typing in your name, reading the terms and conditions, opening your banking app and authorising the transaction. Two and half minutes - not enough. My first attempt to book is timed out – but when I try again and come to select my seat, I see it’s been taken. By me! But not paid for... so I take the aisle seat next to it, this time manage to make the payment in time. Boarding the train I find I have both seats to myself for the whole journey, which makes sleeping easier! Note to InterCity’s IT team – do you honestly think two and half minutes is adequate to make the payment? Make it five. Until then I'll use this trick to book myself an additional seat adjacent to the one I've paid for.

This time two years ago:
Solar promise dashed

This time five years ago:
Meditations on West Ealing and Change.

This time seven years ago:
Warwick University alumni meet in Warsaw

This time eight years ago:
Pluses and minuses of PKP InterCity

This time nine years ago:
When transportation breaks down

This time 14 years ago:
Full moon closest to Earth