Poland's rail renaissance is an ongoing work in progress. According to my old 1999 railway timetable, it would take 31 minutes to get to Chynów to Jeziorki then. Today, it's down to 23 minutes. Fast, modern, comfortable trains running along modernised track make local journeys a pleasure. Major delays can still happen, but they're less frequent; there's less stress, and apps make ticket buying easy.
Travel between cities is shifting away from the car and short-hop flights as people start to understand the environmental consequences of their choices, plus the convenience and comfort that trains offer. You can work on a train, and (assuming modern units) enjoy a freshly cooked meal on a china plate with steel cutlery and a craft beer or espresso doppio as the landscape zooms by.
All in all, passengers are returning to rail travel, not only after Covid, but as a long-term trend. In 2022, rail passenger numbers in Poland exceeded those in 2019, and were indeed higher than in any year this century (342 million, up from a nadir of 257 million in 2005).
But this is a work in progress. It is patchy; some lines are better than others. Warsaw to Kraków can take 2hrs 13mins via Idzikowice (the fully-upgraded CMK route, 293km) or 3hrs 51 mins via Radom and Kielce (322km).
Now, for me, a trip to Kraków from Chynów either means taking a local train into Warsaw, changing at Warsaw West Platform 9 and taking a 20-minute walk to Warsaw West Platforms 1-8 to catch the fast InterCity train, or taking a local train down to Warka and catching the slower InterCity service via Radom. The former arrives at Kraków Główny at 08:58, the latter at 09:16, just 18 minutes later. The latter journey is easier and with a less stressful interchange, although it means an 05:31 departure from Chynów (the former leaves at 05:37). Again, hardly anything in it.
And so I wake at 04:30, eat, shower, dress, leave at 05:15, catch the 05:31 Koleje Mazowieckie train from Chynów to Warka (on time); I catch the 06:11 InterCity train from Warka to Kraków (on time), head straight to the restaurant car where I order a large black coffee, scrambled eggs with ham, chives, tomatoes, rye bread and butter and an orange juice. And watch the sun rise over the Pilica river.
Below: my train arrives on time at Warka station on the right-hand platform; to the left is a Warsaw-bound service that starts in Warka, getting ready to depart.
Below: "Pociąg kończy bieg." ("Train terminates here.") Once empty, this Koleje Mazowieckie train pulls out of the 'up' platform to be stabled in a siding north of the station.
The Monarchy - my arguments for
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Repeatable moments of joy
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Evolution, the future and us
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Relief as Scots vote to remain in UK
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The S2 opens all the way to Puławska
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Okęcie runway repairs are complete
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I know that painting from somewhere...
2 comments:
The usual parade of vacuous vanity🤣-I ll remember that phrase
@Helena
Kardashian clones with fish lips and hippo hips grazing over the racks of 'new season's fashion'. As a species, we seem doomed.
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