Getting to Sandomierz - bumming around Poland by trains and buses

In Sandomierz for an excellent meeting with Polish food exporters on their way to the Speciality & Fine Food Fair in London. I took part in a panel discussion and then conducted a briefing for the Polish firms. A great event in the beautiful location of Sandomierz castle, upon which the sun beamed down. Sandomierz is basically Grójec with extra sunshine, sloping hillsides and fertile black-earth soil - where the orchards are augmented by vineyards - plus it's one of Poland's most beautiful old towns. The Sandomierz district is thus truly blessed. It's just that it's not the easiest of places to get to.

A mere 90 miles (145km) in a straight line from Jakubowizna, I'd have thought that it will be an easy place to get to, given that there's a train (the San) that passes through Chynów, which I can catch in Warka and then alight directly in Sandomierz...

Would that it were so simple.

The San happens to be the one and only direct train a day from Warsaw to Przemysł (conveniently stopping in Warka and Sandomierz). But right now, there's a gap along the line; the train only goes as far as Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, then a replacement bus service takes passengers onward 50km to Sandomierz. As a result, I'd arrive at the latter at quarter past nine in the evening (an hour and a bit after the dinner started) - and Sandomierz's railway station is a long way from the town centre.

So I looked at alternatives - catching a train from Chynów towards Radom, thence by bus to Sandomierz (the bus station is much closer to my destination). 

And here's the problem. Whilst Poland's trains are (relatively) well managed from the point of view of passenger information online, the bus situation is poor - like, well late-1990s. It's not joined up. You end up with .pdfs, not interactive apps. Clunky, and frankly - inadequate. Fortunately, the first part of the puzzle is solved by BusRadar.pl, but ultimately it'll find you the connection and then dump you on the website of the bus operator, under-invested and poorly designed. Little thought for user experience/user interface. The bus connecting Radom and Sandomierz is operated by Poltrans.eu; it runs from Warsaw to Leżajsk stopping at assorted towns and villages along the way. The ticket costs 50zł (45zł with seniors' discount), and unlike train pricing, which is per kilometre, the bus operator uses dynamic pricing. Not as transparent. (Whilst I paid 45zł for Radom - Sandomierz, my return ticket from to Sandomierz - Ostrowiec cost 40zł, for less than half of the distance with no discount offered.) 

However, I could pay by Blik - which for my readers outside of Poland is a genius online payment solution. I click on the vendor's 'pay' button, open my banking app, press for a Blik code, get six digits which I type into the vendor's page, I'm then asked by the banking app to verify, and once acknowledged by the vendor, the deal goes through and I'm sent my bus ticket by email. Quick, simple, cheap, effective.

So I caught a train from Chynów to Radom Północny (one of the three new stations built north of Radom's central station). I buy Koleje Mazowieckie tickets with the KM app, which is even easier and faster. So far, so good, train arrived on time. I then had to walk for some 40 minutes from Radom Północny to the bus stop, located by a roundabout on the main road into Radom. The bus came, on time. I boarded, all good, and then after about five minutes, the bus whizzes past Radom Północny station. No thought as to joined-up travel. At the bus stop itself, the information was wrong. I was travelling on a Thursday; the timetable said the 15:12 bus to Sandomierz doesn't run on Thursdays. But run it did, and on time, delivering me in Sandomierz punctually.

The bus itself was no more than a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter minibus; the aisle was so narrow that fatter passengers had issues passing down it to their seats - which were indeed comfortable, the bus new. The journey itself was fine, no grumbles.

But bus travel is nowhere near as comfortable as train travel. I return on Saturday - by bus from Sandomierz to Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, PolRegio train from Ostrowiec to Skarżysko-Kamienna; then the InterCity Orłowicz on to Warka (in bar car number three for lunch and a craft ale); then Koleje Mazowieckie from Warka onto Chynów.

I decided to extend my stay by an extra night and spend Saturday looking around Sandomierz, which I last visited in 2016 - a beautiful European town - more southern than northern, especially under blue skies and brilliant sunshine. Photos soon.

TRAVEL UPDATE 26 AUGUST: Return journeys are always easier than the outbound leg. My bus from Sandomierz arrived on time at Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski - there I caught a PolRegio train to Skarżysko Kamienna, buying my ticket through the PolRegio app which I downloaded while waiting. The train was also on time, delivering me to Skarżysko-Kamienna with 20 minutes in hand to catch an InterCity train to Warka. Again, I bought my ticket on the platform, this time via the InterCity app. Train arrived punctually, I had dinner in the diner, washed down with a craft ale. Finally a Koleje Mazowieckie train from Warka to Chynów and a short walk home. Easy when you know how!

This time last year:
Inspiration

This time nine years ago:
Food shopping and dietary update

This time ten years ago:
Photos from the Radom Air Show, part 1

This time 11 years ago:
Offloading PKP's risk at W-wa Jeziorki

This time 13 years ago:
Time to be stuffing yourself with fresh fruit

This time 14 years ago:
First notes of autumn in the air

This time 16 years ago:
Large spider catches fly