Polish Train Travel - Scary?

The Poles are an extremely resourceful bunch, I wouldnt put it past them especially when theres a few ZL in the balance.

Hey there, I got robbed while sleeping on an overnight train as well, long-distance of course. That was waaay back somewhere in 1992 - and it only happened to me ONCE in my life so far. I have learnt my lesson - don't sleep on night trains unless you are travelling light (I wasn't at that time). I also got pick-pocketed (is there such a word?) maybe 5 times in my life on various trains and suchlike.
So what? There are pickpockets and thieves and robbers and muggers everywhere. When I lived in India with my parents, my father would keep finding strangers' hands in various pockets and bags of his - does this mean I should forever remember the Indians as thieving scoundrels?
There is a Polish saying - okazja czyni złodzieja (the occasion makes the thief). Walk around London with a wallet sticking out of your pocket or a half-unzipped bag and let's see how far that takes you. My friend was robbed at an internet cafe in Paris. So what? Does it tell us anything about the French? My bf had his wallet stolen in London, even though he is usually very cautious. So what? Should I be branding the English as thieves from now on?
I hope you get my drift.
And pardon me, going to sleep on a night train, in a 2nd class EMPTY compartment, on a stretch of railway that has no major stops, and carrying a laptop - I don't think that's a very smart thing to do anywhere - be it the UK, the US, China, Poland, Greece, Denmark, Brazil.

You're completely right Magdalena, I've been using Polish trains since 3 years to the present date (during day or during night) and never had a trouble! Now ask me how many times I've been looted/attacked in Italy? The 3 times I've been there, 3 times been assaulted, and still can't says Italians are like that! Anyways, I have not many desires on going back there hehe no offense to my italian amigos!

I've travelled on Polish trains on business (lone female etc.), if it really wasn't safe, my company would not have put me on them.

I travelled on the train from Poznan to Berlin on the Warsaw - Berlin Express many times and never had an issue.

Infact I always had a great time in the restaurant car meeting a lot of people whilst having one or two beverages

That's always been one of the things that I've enjoyed about travelling around Central Europe by train.

we've been travelling frequently on Polish trains during the past 18 months. we've never felt unsafe or were robbed. A friend's wallet got stolen on a train, but I think it's like everywhere. Scary? Certainly not.

The problem with the public transport in Poland is that you have two choices unless you fly of course which will still probably involve the following:

1.bad over croaded coach services
2. unsafe dodgy trains

I think if you have to use the trains try to use them in the day time or atleast in day light hours. Always try to sit in a carriage where the people look decent, ask your co-travellers if they are going to the same destination to avoid them jumping out at katowice leaving you alone for the long hual Katowice - Wroclaw run. Also carry pepper spray and keep it handy, its quite legal and can be bought in any firearms establishment.

To be fair this is one of the higher quality services...especially if you are on a German train rather than a Polish model. Even second class is nicer than the normal internal Polish first.

Polish railways have been "regionalized" (whatever that means) quite some time ago, so the quality of service, age of carriages etc. does not depend on any central/nationwide management, but rather on the resources and transport priorities of a given region. I have travelled on spanking-brand-new second class electric traction trains from Białystok to Ełk, and on lousy "regular" 1st class trains elsewhere. Go figure. On the other hand, the situation in the UK is not much different, depending on whether you're travelling by the "one", "southern", "southwestern", "virgin" or whatever other line, you'll be getting anything from state-of-the-art computerized gizmo-type trains to trains that look as if they'd fallen from between the pages of a history book (and hadn't been cleaned since) ;-)

Yeah...the trains where they sell more tickets than seats and even if you bought a guaranteed first class seat it doesn't matter because the aisle will be full of people who are not supposed to, but moved into the first class car anyway for more room and sit on their bags. Then they light up their cigarettes and proceed to fill the non smoking wagon with pollution. If anyone says anything they get a hearty "f@#k you" from the offenders.

Ah...should be a tourist brochure.

If you don't have a reservation, this means just that - you might end up standing in the aisle. The ticket inspector won't let you stand in the 1st class aisle if you have a ticket for 2nd class. You either have to pay the difference or get the hell out. Ironically, the 2nd class carriages are often half empty on the same train ;-)
The only trains that never sell more tickets than the actual no. of seats are express or IC trains. They are clearly marked as "reservation only" trains. You can choose to travel by those only. ;-p
BTW, I have stood in the aisle in lots of countries, including the UK. I always thought this is the way things are - a ticket purchase does not guarantee me a seat on the bus/tube/tram either. (Unless reserved, as above).
Each Polish train carriage is divided into a smoking and non-smoking end, marked appropriately. It makes sense to check that while getting on the train so you don't end up on the wrong side ;-)
Of course train travel isn't all wine and roses, but why the heck should it be? Life is never smooth going all the way. ;-p

Sure...but the issue is when you DO have a seat and are in a non smoking car and the locals ignore it...it happens often in Poland. Not as bad as India or China for example but it happens often.

And just because you have a seat doesn't mean you will be remotely comfortable when the fat people in the aisle are pushing you over with their odorous girth.

As much as flying has become a circus at least it is faster for the longer distances...

If you are on a normal Polish train, the compartments are usually closed (aisle on one side, and compartments on the other), so how can these fat people (and why only fat? and why odorous, all of them?) push you over in your seat?
As I said, all cars are half non-smoking only. You need to check which half you are in. If someone smokes in the non-smoking half, people usually react very angrily to that and the culprit is banished into the aisle ;-)
Come on, don't make it sound worse than it is in reality. I'm a seasoned, born-and-bred Polish train traveller and I've had to sit on the floor by the loo once because of the crowding, but that was way back in 1984 ;-)
Some trains are crowded, some could be cleaner, but that's true of any railway. I am always happy that I get from A to B. Maybe I've been hardened by my communist-oppressed childhood, if so, I am thankful for that. ;-)

I have been shaken down several times by the conductor who insisted I had the wrong ticket and forced me to pay more money. As my Polish got better this happened less.
I used to commute everyday for 6 months from Katowice to Krakow. The real crime is the wait to by a ticket. My advice to foreigners is don't talk too loudly (especially my fellow Americans) and look a little crazy and people will leave you alone, blink your eyes a lot, seriously it works. On crowded trains often no one sat next to me.

I heard the story in the mid 90s on the Moscow St Petersburg run. people were padlocking themselves in their compartments and then thieves were gassing them. Having to lug tanks of nitrous oxide onto the train would be problematic and then the next challenge would be to know how long to gas the occupants without killing them and bringing on all sorts of heat down on the gang. besides which if you saw a hose being pushed into your compartment, why not just open the window?
if the PKP team were really in on the scam wouldn't it be easier to have the tea lady offer everyone a complimentary cup of tea having laced the hot water with mogadon?
I remember a story about two Polish guys who were taking a taxi into Moscow. The driver offered them a drink and one of them managed to fight his way out of the cab at the traffic lights, the police found the other guy's body a few days later.
the same thing happens in Peru though, people will offer you food and drink on a bus and you will wake up the next day having been robbed blind

thanks for all these replies!! Kept me very entertained and informed :)

Well I won't argue with the dangers of travel in the USA, Brazil, Greece (or southern Europe in general), but the UK is generally safe (in fact has very few overnight services anyway). I'm comparing travel in Poland with Germany, Holland, Scandinavia. Night travel isn't so safe in Poland, no matter what people say. And by the way, I wouldn't hesitate to travel on Polish daytime services, especially on the excellent and superfast Warsaw-Berlin run. (In fact, travelling on it on Monday...)

BTW I'd estimate that 50% of young, long-distance travellers these days carry laptops, so that itself is no measure of whether or not you are a target for these b*stard robbers.

Also BTW, I am a light sleeper. I had the door locked (alas not padlocked, cos the (pre-Shengen) border & customs guards kept wanting to see my passport every few minutes, and compartment doors are easy enough to open with the most rudimentary key). The gassing probably took the form of a spray (ether?) administered directly to below the nose. OK, so I was snoozing, but I have few doubts that I was gassed, since the f***ers left the window wide open to vent the compartment, and also a leaf on my chest (a calling card?) just to prove how clever they were.

Snoozing on an overnight Polish train is not a mistake I will ever repeat. (It was, I admit a mistake....) Hence this warning to others contemplating the same.

Has anyone ever taken the EX Train from Warsaw to Gdansk or the PDS train from Gdansk to Poznan?

Yeah... way too expensive and way too slow :(

yes be careful; my gran was robbed like 3 times =// I feel much safer travelling the trains in Canada. I've never been robbed here; we leave our car doors unlocked, garage usually unlocked, some time our house is unlocked =P we never encountered a robbery here...just different here :)

every time I leave to Polska I worry about them robbing me :P hehe but despite that I still love going there :D is just different. I love travelling in trains in Poland (haven't been robbed yet well maybe because I didn't travel alone? don't know?) :) I like to watch the green land passing by :)) it is so pretty!

Jova,

What was the 1st vs. 2nd class like on this train? I though EX was the express train _ i do not believe there are any stops in between.

I don't know... I travel 2nd class and it's pretty ok - neat and nice.


There are no stops but the train is slow due to the terrible state of the rails... :/ Some repairs have started but it's a long way off till the train can reach proper speed there...

A Magical Mystery Tour of sorts

The Warsaw-Gdansk express stops at least four times (from the top of my head it's Mlawa, Ilawa, Malbork and Tczew). The intercity stops at either three or four places depending on which train. Last time I took it the journey was about four hours. Faster than driving and about as fast as flying (if you are going city centre to city centre).

You're right, I was thinking about the Intercity train - it does stop several times but only in Warsaw and Gdańsk - no stops in between (from what I remember).


It's longer now (because of the repairs)... And you can't say it's not slow!! In a civilised country you need about 2 hrs to cover such a distance. 4 hrs is way too long!!

What is the difference between the IC and EX trains from Warsaw to Sopot?

The IC trains are a bit more expensive and they don't stop between Warsaw and Gdańsk.

Has anyone ever travelled on Ukrainian trains? I'll be making the 16 hour journey from Kiev to Donetsk next week and was wondering if I should approach the whole trip with some extra care etc......

Jova - Thanks for all the info! Would both of them be the more modern trains?