A new train timetable for the 2013-14 season

More EIC and TLK trains, a more convenient change system and a fixed train timetable from Christmas up until the end of the holidays are novelties in the timetable which comes into force in the middle of December. Owing to an extensive railway line modernization programme, travellers can also expect some difficulties in the form of longer journeys, e.g. from the capital to Białystok. These are temporary difficulties, however, and when in 2015 many of the works end, journey times will be reduced substantially.

With the new timetable PKP Intercity will be offering its passengers 326 trains domestically. The number in the Express InterCity standard will rise from 49 to 63, with new trains in this category travelling from Warsaw to Bydgoszcz and the Tricity, from Olsztyn to Kraków and Zakopane, and from Warsaw to Zielona Góra.

Additional connections in the Twoje Linie Kolejowe ('Your Railway Lines', TLK) category will also be appearing, including on lines linking the capital with Bydgoszcz, Białystok and Częstochowa, as well as on the routes Poznań-Szczecin, Wrocław-Poznań and Gdynia-Bydgoszcz-Wrocław.

The carrier will also raise the journey standard on the line Przemyśl-Kraków-Katowice-Wrocław-Poznań-Szczecin, introducing 14 trains formed solely of modernized carriages. Also available will be more carriages adapted to the needs of travellers with disabilities, as well as restaurant cars.

The change to the timetable is a result of the need to adjust hours and routes to the modernization work being performed, the track and technological works. At present, investments are being undertaken for close to 3,200 km of track, that is, for 16% of all rail routes used in Poland as well as many engineering structures. A result of the works will be shorter train journey times.

The modernization of the infrastructure will also affect train activity. Owing to the repair works on the Central Main Line, trains in both directions from Warsaw to Kraków and Katowice will depart every two hours, although numbers and journey times will not be subject to substantial change. In addition, until 8 March 2014 journey times will be changed as a result of works on the Wrocław-Poznań line. An extended journey time also applies to trains between the capital and Białystok and on the Przemyśl-Kraków-Katowice line. The conclusion of many works is planned for 2015.

With the new timetable 40 international trains will be at the disposal of passengers. The arrangement of connections to the south of Europe is changing. The running of the EIC Praha service will be suspended. The carrier will offer three daily connections from Warsaw to Prague with a guaranteed change in Ostrava and direct night connections undertaken by the Chopin service, while the EuroNight Jan Kiepura, travelling to Amsterdam, will be connected, on the Warsaw-Berlin stretch, to the EIC Berlin-Warsaw-Express.

The new timetable will have a positive effect on the change system, with Poznań being a good example of the new approach to timetable creation. From 9 March next year a well-planned and clear change system will be in effect in the capital of Great Poland. The carrier will offer passengers convenient connection with Wrocław, Warsaw, Gdynia, Szczecin and the Tricity, as well as Berlin. Travellers will have from five to 20 minutes to change train. In accordance with the declarations of the infrastructure administrator the entire system will begin to function fully from 9 March 2014, that is, with the conclusion of a further stage in the modernization works.

Further stretches will see the introduction of the Route Ticket. It will be possible to travel using EIC trains from Warsaw to the Tricity for the attractive price of PLN 75, and from Poznań to Zielona Góra for PLN 46. Passengers who purchase this ticket are able to take advantage of statutory concessions, meaning that the amount for the discount allowed will be deducted from the promotional price. In the case of students, for example, this is a further 51%, which means that a studying passenger will pay PLN 36.75 for the express from the capital to the sea. The Route Ticket offer in effect from June makes it possible to purchase tickets with discounts of from 10 to 65%.

The new train timetable and sale of tickets are available to passengers from the middle of November, 30 days before the changes. Travellers are able to purchase tickets both over the Internet and at ticket windows. PKP Intercity will distribute over 200,000 information leaflets with the new timetable, and on 12-16 December of this year, at 19 of the largest stations in Poland, 130 information providers will be assisting travellers.

More information can be obtained by calling the Intercity Infoline.