Is it safe to take a train in Poland?

wonka:

I'm Polish so i can talk but i was on many trains, night ones, local ones, you name it and i've never seen anyone to be spat at, teenagers smoking weed/cigarettes, kicking off, listening to deafening music, putting their feet on the seats, etc.... what is that? oh, that's commuting to work by public transport in Manchester

xixichibozhuThreads: 5 Posts: 17 Joined: May 4, 08	May 30, 08, 22:27 / #
i learned from the internet that taking a train from Warsaw to Gdansk is very dangerous, especially for a young girl, keep an eye on my stuff...... Is that true?

polishgirltx	May 30, 08, 22:58 / #
just be careful....you never know....and if you can take somebody with you, do it... enjoy...

plk123Threads: 30 Posts: 6,412 Joined: Aug 29, 07	May 31, 08, 00:53 / #
where is it really safe for a young girl anyway? trains are comfy and nice. enjoy the ride. :)

BartolomeThreads: 2 Posts: 1,345 Joined: Sep 14, 06	May 31, 08, 03:44 / #
xixichibozhu: i learned from the internet that taking a train from Warsaw to Gdansk is very dangerous, especially for a young girl, keep an eye on my stuff...... Is that true? Don't travel at night.

MakdaamThreads: - Posts: 34 Joined: Mar 7, 08	May 31, 08, 06:14 / #
I'd just recommend using InterCity (TLK or IC trains) and not Przewozy Regionalne "Pospieszne" and "Osobowe" are usually overcrowded or completely empty, since noone cares about passenger count in Przewozy Regionalne. Other than that just use your brain, don't take candy from strangers etc.

rafikThreads: 21 Posts: 740 Joined: Jun 22, 06	May 31, 08, 09:45 / #
travel during the day hours if you can.don't sit in an empty compartment.don't flash any expensive jewelery,watches keep your bag on you ect.if you speak a foreign language don't speak laudly .just like everywhere;travel like a normal passenger. i traveled from warsaw to gdansk/gdynia countless of times, mostly at night and never had any problems even when i slept alone in a compartment.however i'am a big lad and often dressed like a soldier(birdwatcher:)).traveling inter city is a good option or if you can't afford it then get on 1st class in "pospieszny".avoid drunken soldiers or football huligans.

LondonChickThreads: 43 Posts: 1,261 Joined: Nov 19, 07	May 31, 08, 10:19 / #
I travelled around Poland by train the first time I went there and was fine (young girl on her own). In fact, I had no choice - I was on a business trip that had been arranged by the company that I was working for at the time. I figured that it had to be fairly safe if my employers thought it was. You have to keep your wits about you everywhere these days... not just on Polish trains.

xixichibozhuThreads: 5 Posts: 17 Joined: May 4, 08	May 31, 08, 12:26 / #
It sounds terrible to take a train~~~ My bf warned me not to take a train. If i have to , i should get a first class ticket. I think it's easy to tell that i am a foreigner cause poles don't have yellow skin and black hair~~~ God bless me!

MufasaThreads: 24 Posts: 445 Joined: Oct 21, 07	May 31, 08, 12:40 / #
Try Intercity. My husband and I travel quite often by train. His wallet was pickpocketed on the train from Krakow to Warsaw once, but a pickpocket can get to your purse in a supermarket as well. The train is really onderful, and much faster than going by car.

sobieskiThreads: 82 Posts: 1,141 Joined: Jun 1, 08	Jun 1, 08, 03:45 / #
Travel by IC or Express train, and sit in the compartment just behind the one the train guard is using (they always sit in the first class wagon. IC and express trains are safe, at least I have heard of or experienced anything bad in them. Some railway stations are to be avoided though at night. Warszawa Wschodnia is to be avoided at nighttime. Katowice Central Station is also not my favourite place to spend the night. Warszawa Centralna, despite its grim and shabby appearance is safe, if only for hundreds of policemen, military police and security guards patrolling. Getting lost in the labyrinthine passageways is another matter though :)

fishstickThreads: - Posts: 14 Joined: Apr 21, 08	Jul 7, 08, 17:11 / #
Take intercity if you can. More expensive but faster and safer. Warsaw to gdansk? If you can, dont travel alone.

dnzThreads: 25 Posts: 804 Joined: Dec 2, 07	Jul 7, 08, 18:12 / #
Drive! at least you will have air conditioning and decent seats! In my experience Polish trains are dreadful, slow, dirty and generally in poor condition and you really feel like you should have a shower the second you get off! Cheap though and reletively safe but I would still rather drive. First class makes no difference from what I can tell but not sure. Just to add I have never been on a train in any other country so I don't know how they compare.

southernThreads: 116 Posts: 10,955 Joined: May 17, 07	Jul 7, 08, 18:52 / #
If you manage to get out of polish train with your kidneys still in place,you slould consider yourself lucky. Hostel movie is nothing compared to polish reality.

ukpolskaThreads: 51 Posts: 2,238 Joined: Oct 23, 06 MEMBER	Jul 7, 08, 22:56 / #
southern: If you manage to get out of polish train with your kidneys still in place,you slould consider yourself lucky. Hostel movie is nothing compared to polish reality. For gods sake!! Keep a reality check here!! All I can say is that I have lived here for eight years now and my wife travels to the Polish Ministry of Agriculture in Warsaw three times a week on the train and has never had any problems, and just to be safe, treat as if you were in your own country, you wouldn't put yourself in dangerous situations there would you, so don't do the same here and you will be perfectly ok.

krysiaThreads: 26 Posts: 3,604 Joined: Aug 10, 06	Edited by: krysia Jul 7, 08, 23:05 / #
southern: Hostel movie is nothing compared to polish reality. Lol! Good one.

ukpolskaThreads: 51 Posts: 2,238 Joined: Oct 23, 06 MEMBER	Jul 7, 08, 23:09 / #
krysia: Lol! Good one. Good god, where have you been Krysia, haven't seen you for ages :)

urszulaThreads: 2 Posts: 362 Joined: Aug 31, 07	Edited by: urszula Jul 7, 08, 23:18 / #
Never had problems either.

krysiaThreads: 26 Posts: 3,604 Joined: Aug 10, 06	Jul 7, 08, 23:21 / #
ukpolska: Good god, where have you been Krysia, haven't seen you for ages :) Lol. Hi stranger!

wonkaThreads: 1 Posts: 19 Joined: Jul 3, 08	Jul 9, 08, 02:35 / #
southern: Hostel movie is nothing compared to polish reality. I'm Polish so i can talk but i was on many trains, night ones, local ones, you name it and i've never seen anyone to be spat at, teenagers smoking weed/cigarettes, kicking off, listening to deafening music, putting their feet on the seats, etc.... what is that? oh, that's commuting to work by public transport in Manchester

ukpolskaThreads: 51 Posts: 2,238 Joined: Oct 23, 06 MEMBER	Jul 9, 08, 04:56 / #
wonka: I'm Polish so i can talk but i was on many trains, night ones, local ones, you name it and i've never seen anyone to be spat at, teenagers smoking weed/cigarettes, kicking off, listening to deafening music, putting their feet on the seats, etc.... what is that? oh, that's commuting to work by public transport in Manchester So what you are saying is that you have never seen these on British trains then. wonka: i've never seen anyone lol, I think your name wonka suits you :)

wonkaThreads: 1 Posts: 19 Joined: Jul 3, 08	Jul 9, 08, 05:29 / #
What i'm saying is that i would worry about using public transport in Poland. There are times when i'm scared to use a bus in Manchester.

HelenaWojtczakThreads: 31 Posts: 156 Joined: Aug 5, 08	Aug 5, 08, 11:38 / #
I'm coming to Poland next month and will be getting a rail pass and travelling for four days by rail. I am a lone female. I am supposed to be scared/worried? Because I don't feel scared/worried!

SwiteziankaThreads: - Posts: 525 Joined: Jun 17, 08	Aug 5, 08, 12:17 / #
There's already a thread on that: And take it easy.

JashiwiThreads: - Posts: 23 Joined: Aug 25, 07	Aug 6, 08, 20:26 / #
That is a good thing to know. (So, just basically use your common sense) ;) and you should be just-fine? As I was reading the comments/replies here, I wondered if I should use the train as a means of transportation in Poland. I plan to travel to Poland, next fall. (2009) and I wanted to make sure, that I knew about this, and various others in information. :)

SeanBMThreads: 41 Posts: 8,727 Joined: Mar 10, 08	Aug 6, 08, 20:33 / #
Jashiwi: (So, just basically use your common sense) I would have to say NO, common sense is a complete waste of time, I mean where is the fun in it, eh? Is it safe to take a train in Poland? be not afraid, be not very afraid....wait a sec, this reminds me of that other thread URL that was one of my favorite threads.

ukpolskaThreads: 51 Posts: 2,238 Joined: Oct 23, 06 MEMBER	Edited by: ukpolska Aug 6, 08, 22:55 / #
SeanBM: Today, 20:33 Report #25 Jashiwi: (So, just basically use your common sense) I would have to say NO, common sense is a complete waste of time, I mean where is the fun in it, eh? Is it safe to take a train in Poland? SeanBM, just to keep it on the rails my friend (excuse the pun), and I hope the girl has the intelligence to know your just joshing :) And yes of course it's safe to use the train, and I would pay a little bit more if I were you and go first class, as eight people in a compartment can get a little smelly in this weather (that is if it is full), compared to six that are rarely full.

SeanBMThreads: 41 Posts: 8,727 Joined: Mar 10, 08	Aug 7, 08, 07:52 / #
ukpolska: SeanBM, just to keep it on the rails my friend (excuse the pun), and I hope the girl has the intelligence to know your just joshing :) Yes, sorry, I forget to put smiley's or lol or ha ha when I am joking sometimes. I was of course joking.

HelenaWojtczakThreads: 31 Posts: 156 Joined: Aug 5, 08	Aug 11, 08, 10:30 / #
If you check out my itinerary for next month you 'll see a lot of train travel on it, England to Poland, within Poland and back again. I'm getting first class tickets within Poland for comfort reasons, like UKPolska said.

ukpolskaThreads: 51 Posts: 2,238 Joined: Oct 23, 06 MEMBER	Aug 13, 08, 08:18 / #
This was outside Warsaw a few years ago...don't worry Helena as this was the only crash that I have heard of over the eight years of being here. Someone told me that Poland has the safest trains in Europe, but someone else told me the reason is that they don't go fast enough to crash lol :)

HelenaWojtczakThreads: 31 Posts: 156 Joined: Aug 5, 08	Edited by: HelenaWojtczak Aug 13, 08, 10:50 / #
On that video the oncoming train on the left has gone past the signal at danger that was protecting the entry to the bi-directional single line and is fouling the opposite line. The resulting accident is known as a side-swipe and isn't anything like as serious as the head-on collision that it might have been had the oncoming train gone further past the red signal. It never crosses my mind that a train I am on might crash. Statistically, you've got more chance being killed by choking on food, but this doesn't make us all feel anxious about every meal. Most of my adult life I've worked as a guard on the railway. I rode on trains 40 to 60 hours a week, 47 weeks a year for 20 years and didn't have a single crash. I was of course full trained in emergency procedures for every possible eventuality, but luckily the worst operational accident I had was when my train derailed in a siding. I also had seven fires, but I'm getting way off topic here so will shut up as soon as I've said that I wrote a related book.. http://www.hastingspress.co.uk/railwaywomen/railindex.html Helena