Michalczew, south of Krężel

Using public transport to increase the range of my walks limits these to a north-south direction, up and down and along the Warsaw-Radom railway line. Much improved in recent years, with roads and path built alongside the rails, where once were just muddy or dusty dirt tracks. This makes walking much more efficient as a way of covering ground. My walk last Sunday took just over an hour and half to cover the eight kilometres from the działka to Michalczew station, passing Krężel station along the way. 

There's something very special about rural railway lines on a weekend in high summer; the quiet of a country station, a handful of people gathering on a platform minutes before a local service is due to arrive, some folk to meet alighting passengers, others to board, heading for town to catch a show or meet friends for dinner, or merely returning to their urban apartments after a weekend on the działka.

And here (below) is Krężel station, a view that brings to mind an Eric Ravilious painting - the white goods wagon repurposed as stationary storeroom; the yellowing grasses; the slight rise leading up to the composition's focal point, the summer sky streaked with thin white cloud.

Below: the village of Janów straddles the line, halfway between Krężel and Michalczew. When I passed here last year, there was no asphalt, no fence to the right - just a barnyard with chickens scratching at a dirt track. In the distance, a Radom-bound Impuls Koleje Mazowieckie train heads south towards Michalczew.

A perfect summer's day - hot and dry - so I'm off in search of those 1940s USA vibes once more. With 21st century EU infrastructure. Trackside between Janów and Michalczew.

Below: Michalczew station in the evening sun. In good time to catch the 18:18 train back to Chynów. The building dates back to 1935. Note the pedestrian-only level crossing, the lighting, the signage. All to the highest EU standards.

Below: from the southern end of Michalczew's 'up' platform, a view towards the level-crossing approach for road traffic. The road has been realigned, with a series of curves intended to slow down drivers as they near the tracks; proper signage, proper speed limits. The number of road-vehicle users killed at level crossings has fallen, as a result of modernisations, from 256 in 2012 to 172 in 2022. Still way too many, but the process of replacing ungated crossings with gated ones or with viaducts (as in Warka) is ongoing. A path following the railway line south of this level crossing (towards Warka) is sorely needed - the only way for pedestrians and cyclists is the main road (fast and dangerous).

Below: here comes my train, from Michalczew to Chynów. Beyond it, the track curves away to the south-west towards Gośniewice. Between that curve and Czachówek Połudnowy, behind me in this picture, the railway line runs 15 kilometres in a dead straight line, rising up and down slightly.

There's something comforting and magical about our railways, especially when they are fully functional and useful to communities. That they are they, that they run (generally!) to time, and that we use them for work and leisure. I express gratitude for them.

Below: back in Jakubowizna - eternal Poland abides, in summer, under a setting sun.

This time two years ago:
High summer in Chynów: storms, fruit and exercise

This time three years ago:
Summer wet and dry

This time five years ago:
Rainy summer Warsaw moods

This time seven years ago:
Marathon stroll along the Vistula

This time nine years ago:
Complaining about the lack of a river crossing between Siekierki and Góra Kalwaria! 

This time ten years ago:
S2 update 

This time 11 years ago:
Progress on S2 bypass - photos from the air

This time 13 years ago:
Up Śnieżnica

This time 16 years ago:
July continues glum (2007 - yet another rainy summer)