Góra Kalwaria, by train

Today, 22 September, is World Car-Free Day. Koleje Mazowieckie, as in past years, made today a ticket-free day, and so it behoves me to make the most of it. I chose to go by train from Chynów to Góra Kalwaria and back, changing at Ustanówek both ways.

I wrote in May about the work carried out at Góra Kalwaria and Czachówek Wschodni, raising the platforms at both stations to allow modern rolling stock to serve them. Having photographed Czachówek Wschodni, I thought I'd take the opportunity to snap Góra Kalwaria too. Trains from Warsaw to Góra Kalwaria swing off the main Radom line south of Ustanówek, then slow down to 40km/h for the seven kilometres to Góra Kalwaria. The contrast between the fully modernised Radom line and the Łuków-Skierniewice line is quite a shock. Now, the latter line is almost entirely goods-only with only the short stretch between Czachówek and Góra Kalwaria carrying passenger services.

Below: the platform at Góra Kalwaria has always been too short for a full-length train; here's a two-unit set of Flirts (ten carriages in total). To ensure no one steps off onto the tracks, the conductor passes through the rear unit of five carriages as the train approaches Ustanówek, asking passengers for Czachówek Południowy and Góra Kalwaria to move into the front five carriages.

Below: signal box at Góra Kalwaria. East of the station, five tracks merge down into one.

Below: looking at the station from ulica Pijarska. The right-hand track is for loading/unloading aggregate trains, the two left-hand tracks are for passenger trains; through freight traffic passes on the two tracks in the middle.

Below: the line leads down to the Vistula, crossing over it a single-track bridge. Passenger services over the bridge were terminated in 2003, briefly reinstalled in 2009, the terminated again. There is hope that when the entire line is modernised, passenger trains will return to the whole Łuków-Skierniewice line. Having said that, the line has seen a massive fall in container trains from China to Western Europe, according to Rynek Kolejowy, from 50 trains to 20 trains a day.

Below: Góra Kalwaria has changed since the DK79 bypass took the bulk of through traffic out of the centre. This stretch of road was clogged solid for much of the day. A huge improvement.

Below: my return train to Ustanówek is a five-car, one-unit set, which fits in the platform nicely. Leaving Góra Kalwaria just before five pm, it is already well frequented by young folk heading into Warsaw (or maybe even Piaseczno) to party on down.

Two stops on, I alight at Ustanówek, change platforms, and shortly my train to Chynów arrives. All four trains on time, again.

This time two years ago
Into darkness

This time five years ago:
Summer's end

This time six years ago:
In which I lose a lot of data from my old laptop

This time seven years ago:
Konin - town of aluminium, electricity and coal

This time ten years ago:
Car-free day falls on a Sunday

This time 11 years ago:
Vistula at record low level

This time 14 years ago:
Car-free day? Warsaw's roads busier than ever

This time 15 years ago:
The shape of equinox

This time 16 years ago:
Potato harvest time in Jeziorki