Trains

Well, Happy birthday to me! I am spending my 42nd on a five hour train ride back “home”. I spoke a little about food yesterday- today’s observations are on Polish trains:

Let me first summarize. The Polish train system goes everywhere and is cheap. But it is also slow and in pretty poor shape.

The entire Polish train system was completely destroyed in WWII. It was then rebuilt under Communist Poland. As compared to Germany or France, the trains are quite slow and old looking. Poland is spending billions to get its train system up to Western EU standards.

For example, my 190 mile/300 km journey from Poznan to Gdansk will take 5 hours and 15 minutes. That same distance on a German train might take 3 hours. It is cheap; as a standard class ticket for this journey was $18. For another $10, you can move up to first class- which I frequently do. You have less seats (six to a compartment instead of eight) and it is less crowded. That is an easy extra $10 on a five hour journey (.50 cents an hour for comfort). Tickets for students under 26 are discounted by about 33%.

The stations are very Communist era. All concrete block buildings, all stairs- no elevators or escalators (fun to carry a 50-plus lb. suitcase up and down stairs). To get to my track today (with a 50 lb suite case and heavy backpack), I had to walk up a long flight of stairs- to get into the terminal; then down a long flight of stairs- to get to the track tunnel; then back up a long flight of stairs- to get to the track platform. Of course, I also had my obligatory cup of coffee and danish in hand too.

Knowing this before I left the states- I had Lisa purchase five large rolling backpacks. We then told the kids that when we travel-this is all they get to take. They will thank me later in life (much later).

The bathrooms are unique too. God knows where the water comes from (I would not drink it or even touch it). Here is my favorite part. When you flush, a flap opens you see the railroad tracks below- I will let you visualize what is happening. Note to self- don’t ever walk along railroad tracks.

You typically sit in compartments- three seats facing three seats in a 7X7 room. You can shut the glass door or open the window- so that is nice. It’s old, but clean. You are looking at a first class compartment.

Trains are on time and stops at stations are very quick (about 1-2 minutes). But sometimes you do stop in the middle of nowhere, for no apparent reason, for a few minutes.

In order to get into the same league with the rest of the European Union, Poland will have to basically replace their train system. The cars are too old and slow, and the stations are not up to EU standards. They are moving in the right direction though, but it will take probably a decade to be where it should be. That is probably true of all infrastructure in Poland.

As I love contrasts- here is a good picture. A old Communist era concrete train platform (Poznan Glowny) with a KFC and Col. Sanders in the background. The past meets the future.

With all that said, even the Polish train system is SO much better than flying. The only good thing about flying is less time to get from point A to point B. There is so much more room on trains. You can get up and walk all over. They have a food car and and you can stretch out- eat, drink, no security checks, parking or other hassles. My Iphone (with internet) works the entire journey. Today, I am sitting in this big compartment all by myself. (PS- two Poles just came in at this stop, wearing suits-sat down- opened their briefcase and pulled out a six pack of beer).

I have now taken several four and five hour train trips within Poland (and Europe). However, it will be interesting to see how much longer trips go. Berlin is ten hours via train and Kracow is nine. My plan is to take the family on an overnight train to Krackow (six sleeping beds in a 7 x 7 compartment- two rows stacked three high) in later October. That will give them something to write home about.

So take a book or plan a nap and ride a train (even in Poland).