Poland's sleeper-train services for 2025

Yesterday saw the annual change to Poland's (and indeed Europe's) railway timetables. There are minor adjustments throughout the year (9 March, 15 June, 31 August and 26 October 2025), but this is the moment that new services are introduced or old ones axed.

So – how many domestic sleeper-train services are there after the timetable change? Excluding the international sleeper trains, we are down from six pairs to five pairs; two of them start/finish in Warsaw (to/from Świnoujście and Szklarska Poręba Górna); two pass through Warsaw (Gdynia to/from Zakopane; Kraków to/from Kołobrzeg); and one bypasses Warsaw altogether (Przemyśl to/from Świnoujście via Wrocław). Last year, two of the six trains were operated by InterCity with new sleeper carriages, the remaining four were TLK (Twoje Linie Kolejowe, the cheaper brand). This year, two of the TLK services were upgraded to IC; one TLK remains, one has been changed from a sleeper service to an ordinary train that travels by night.

Let's look at the five pairs of Polish sleeper trains in detail.

I'll start with my personal favourite that I've used many times over the years.

IC 18171 Uznam Warszawa Wschodnia - Świnoujście (dep. 22:39 arr. 07:20). An InterCity, rather than a TLK service, with the newer sleeper carriages are now in use on this service. It leaves Warsaw later than in last year's timetable, calling at Szczecin Główny on the way, arriving at 05:29, more convenient for business than the previous 04:16. The Uznam still gets you to the Baltic beach resorts in good time – it passes through Międzyzdroje at 07:07. And it runs all year round.

IC 81170 Uznam: Świnoujście – Warszawa Wschodnia (dep. 22:03 arr. 06:51) is the return service. Leaving an hour later than in the previous timetable, but arriving just ten minutes later in Warsaw, giving you an extra hour in Świnoujście. The train is already in the platform well ahead of departure time, so passengers can board early and get themselves comfortable before it sets off. 

Taking the Uznam there and back from Warsaw in summer gives you the best part of 12 hours on the beach. With a hotel or apartment from Saturday to Sunday, you can get a full weekend of Baltic sun-and-sea having worked Friday, and be back to the office first thing Monday morning.

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This is another that I've used many, many times, though I've never been beyond Jelenia Góra.

IC 16190 Karkonosze: Warszawa Wschodnia - Szklarska Poręba Górna (dep. 23:24 arr. 08:25). The Karkonosze, which only goes as far as Jelenia Góra in summer, returns to the mountains, calling in at Wrocław (04:16), Wałbrzych Główny (05:57) and Jelenia Góra (06:42) along the way. Upgraded this year to an Intercity (IC) train, you'll no longer find old-style carriages here. If you have an early business meeting in Wrocław, my tip is to sleep on to Wałbrzych, change there to take a local train back, which will give you another couple of hours of rest. Otherwise you'll be spending all that time in Wrocław Głowny's McDonalds until your meeting.

IC 61190 Karkonosze: Szklarska Poręba Górna – Warszawa Wschodnia (dep. 20:27 arr. 04:56). Departing at the same time as last year, the return service arrives in Warsaw more than an hour earlier, lets skiers and hikers get a weekend full of mountain air and get back well before their offices open on Monday morning, having slept on the train. 

If past years are to go by, the Karkonosze will only run between Warsaw and Zielona Góra during the summer months, thereby depriving passengers the possibility of hiking in the mountains in summer.

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IC 38170 Ustronie: Kraków Główny – Kołobrzeg (dep. 21:36 arr. 09:34). Year-round seaside-special for folks from Poland's south, calling at Kielce, Radom, Warsaw East and the Tri-City on its way to the resorts of Ustronie and Kołobrzeg. You can use this train as a nocturnal connection between Warsaw (dep. 02:30) and Gdańsk (arr. 06:01) and Gdynia, though with three and half hours between the two cities, you'll not get quality sleep time. Two significant changes to this service; as with the Świnoujście services: it has changed from a TLK to an IC, so better rolling stock. Also, this year's timetable cuts out Warka, Piaseczno, Warsaw West and Warsaw Central, swinging east at Radom, crossing the Vistula to connect Pionki, Dęblin and Pilawa. A longer route, at 936 km.

IC 83170 Ustronie: Kołobrzeg – Kraków Główny (dep. 19:30, arr. 07:46). Passing through Warszawa Wschodnia at 03:00. The train is a useful nocturnal connection for Varsovians needing to be in Kraków for early business meetings.

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TLK 35170 Karpaty: Zakopane – Gdynia Główna (dep. 21:47, arr. 08:30) At last, track work complete, from the mountains to the sea, 848 km. Not upgraded to IC, so fans of old-school rolling stock can still experience the veneered wood, moquette upholstery and clunkiness. The Karpaty also functions as another nocturnal connection between Kraków, Warsaw and the Tri-City (dep: Kraków Główny 00:45, calling at Warsaw Central at 04:20 and arriving in Gdańsk Główny at 07:58). The Karpaty takes the Częstochowa - Piotrków Tryb. route rather than serving Kielce and Radom. 

TLK 53170 Karpaty: Gdynia Główna – Zakopane (dep: 19:50, arr: 06:39) On the way back from Gdynia to Zakopane, the Karpaty leaves Gdynia at an early hour for a sleeper service, passing through Warsaw Central at 23:45 and arriving in Kraków at 03:27. This means Krakovians can get home after a late night in the capital. The Polish mountains are connected to the Polish sea by night train again – but unlike the Szklarska Poręba service, this one runs all year round.

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Now onto the one sleeper service that skips Warsaw altogether. There was a second one, the TLK 53172  Rozewie (Gdynia Główna to Kraków Główny via Gdańsk, Bydgoszcz, Poznań, Wrocław, Opole and Katowice); this has been replaced by an unnamed InterCity train, the IC 461; it continues beyond Kraków to Rzeszów and Przemyśl, a 12-hour-16 minute journey of 1,009 km, travelling mostly by night – and yet there are no sleeper carriages on this train!

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IC 83172 Przemyślanin: Świnoujście – Przemyśl Główny (dep. 18:57, arr. 08:25). The Orient-Express of Polish train journeys, a full 1,019 kilometres (612 miles) all the way, linking the south-east and north-west extremes of Poland. Thirteen hours and 28 minutes; more than two hours shaved off the previous timetable. Despite the shorter travel time, the current route is longer, substituting Opole for Katowice in last year's timetable. An mid-evening start from Świnoujście, but there's a restaurant car attached. Given the nature of night trains, moving from your compartment to the restaurant means having to arrange this with the sleeping-car attendant. The carriages are delivered to Świnoujście station an hour or so before the departure time, so you can leave your stuff in your sleeping compartment, and dine en route to Szczecin (20:26) before returning to your bunk(s). The train also calls at Poznań, Wrocław, Opole, Kraków and Rzeszów on the way, thus serving six of Poland's 16 provincial capitals. A proper InterCity train with modern sleeper carriages, superior in comfort to the stock used on TLK night connections.

IC 38172 Przemyślanin: Przemyśl Główny-Świnoujście (dep. 19:29, arr. 09:04). The south-east and north-western extremes of Poland linked the other way. 

So: more quality, less quantity. Use it or lose it.

Other than the sleeper trains, the biggest story of the 2025 timetable is the introduction of Pendolino trains to Szczecin via Poznań, cutting journey time to 4h 23m (from over five hours; and back in recent memory, seven hours). Wrocław-Warsaw has been cut to 3h 30m. And a new international service, the IC Baltic Express from Czechia to the sea, and the IC Galicia from Przemyśl to Berlin via Rzeszów, Kraków, Katowice and Wrocław. Polish trains are getting better and better!

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