Polish trains - When are they available for booking?

[Chrisbolton]

Hi

Im flying into Warsaw on the 29th December, and looking at getting a train to Gdansk on the 30th. That is a couple of weeks away yet, but even looking at say next Saturday I get no results for trains, are they still running?

 

[realemil]

They should be running yes, but note that trains in Poland are typically only available to book roughly 6 weeks prior to travel. 30 days earlier.

FAQ.

This tab includes answers to frequently asked questions

www.intercity.pl

25. When is it possible to pre-purchase a ticket for domestic train?​

The ticket can be purchased at least 30 days earlier, but no later than 5 minutes before the time of departure from the boarding station indicated on the ticket

 

[Chrisbolton]

Thats the thing, I cant event book one for say tomorrow

 

[realemil]

Can you let me know what site you are attempting to use?

Some sites will not allow you to book certain services.

 

[Chrisbolton]

Ive only looked on Trainline to be fair, I did try another in Polish but still got no results

 

[realemil]

You need to use https://www.intercity.pl/en/ - I'm not sure if other sites will sell tickets for you, but this is the official site for IC and EIC trains in Poland, including the route you'll be travelling on.

 

[Chrisbolton]

Ah perfect! I did try some others but it felt more like a travel agent/third party

 

[AndrewE]

We travelled from Gdansk and learnt that you have to be careful to book a ticket for the correct train company: the booking offices were good at checking the departure we were taking and giving us the correct one.
Even so, you have to be careful if you are doing a day trip on a route with both express and local trains.

 

[Chrisbolton]

I suppose it’s more do we need to book or can we just turn up and pay in the station? We’re staying right next door to the central station in Warsaw

 

[StephenHunter]

I suppose it’s more do we need to book or can we just turn up and pay in the station? We’re staying right next door to the central station in Warsaw

Generally a good idea to pre-book for the EIC/IC trains, which are mandatory reservation. You can get the reservations for just one zloty at the Centralna ticket office, but write down what you want as the staff aren't always the most fluent in English.

 

[rvdborgt]

Generally a good idea to pre-book for the EIC/IC trains, which are mandatory reservation.

Only some of them are, generally the ones with a new IC trainset (although on this route most seem to have mandatory reservations). A reservation is a good idea though in PKP long distance trains and if you book a regular ticket, a reservation will be included.

 

[realemil]

I would highly recommend booking in advance, especially for this route. It's likely to be busy; the last time I travelled this route it was full, even in FC (middle of May), and during New Years / Christmas period it's likely that it will be very busy with people returning home and to work.

Pre-booking online is very easy and gives you a reservation and a ticket for your train.

 

[306024]

I would highly recommend booking in advance, especially for this route. It's likely to be busy; the last time I travelled this route it was full, even in FC (middle of May), and during New Years / Christmas period it's likely that it will be very busy with people returning home and to work.

Pre-booking online is very easy and gives you a reservation and a ticket for your train.

Quite agree, full and standing from Warsaw when I used this route last month.

 

[riceuten]

Try KOLEO - they are really good

 

[alex397]

I know this isn’t the question you have asked, but as others recommended to me when booking trains, I’d advise you use Koleo to book Polish train tickets. I found the PKP website confusing and glitchy. Koleo is far more user friendly.

Koleo also offers you to choose your own seats (but only of use if you’re aware of the seating plan, which may be possible to see on Vagonweb). If not, you can choose what type of seat you want and it will assign one to you - you can see what seat they give you just before paying for the ticket.

 

[hexagon789]

I've never heard of Koleo, but the reviews in Polish are almost as bad as the infamous Rail Ninja....

 

[riceuten]

I’ve used KOLEO tons of times with zero problems.

 

[hexagon789]

I’ve used KOLEO tons of times with zero problems.

Doesn't mean they don't exist.

 

[riceuten]

Doesn't mean they don't exist.

Sigh

Someone comes here asking for recommendations, and for some reason, you don’t like it. Have you ever taken a train in Poland, or used any of the apps yourself? I am guessing probably not.

By all means you can use a different app, or the multilingual ticket machines at the station, or the ticket offices, where staff are available. I am just telling you my own personal experience, as are other people.

 

[Cloud Strife]

I've never heard of Koleo, but the reviews in Polish are almost as bad as the infamous Rail Ninja....

Koleo have a very good reputation here in Poland, so I suspect that the bad reviews are more related to problems with the train operators. PKP Intercity has really gone downhill in terms of attitude towards customers, and Polregio in its various disguises has always been a complete disaster.

I've used Koleo for years without a single issue.

edit: https://pl.trustpilot.com/review/koleo.pl - the majority of these bad reviews are from people who don't seem to know what they're writing about, i.e. blaming Koleo for the faults of the train operators.

As for the booking of Polish trains, the simple answer is "it depends". Polish railway timetables are a complete mess, but generally speaking, I'd be checking Koleo frequently and book tickets as soon as they are released for sale.

 

[rg177]

edit: https://pl.trustpilot.com/review/koleo.pl - the majority of these bad reviews are from people who don't seem to know what they're writing about, i.e. blaming Koleo for the faults of the train operators.

Some absolute corkers there - from accusations of racism when prices are higher to booting off because they've been PFNed (or equivalent) on SKM

My own experience of KOLEO is that they're perfectly fine. They can be a bit weird with foreign cards occasionally but I think this is more towards the odd way that Poland does online transactions - you'll effectively 'set up' a transaction (and get an email to that effect - complete with tracking link) followed by another step confirming that it's gone through, and then another with your tickets attached.

The PKP site is a complete mess but I have had success on the odd occasions I've needed to use it (such as on the Vilnius - Mockava - Krakow service).

Polish trains are a complete mixed bag with reliability. Though, it's usually the case that once you're a few minutes late you can expect to quickly lose more and more time with little explanation. I can't say that I've noted any particular difference in attitude between staff at different companies - they're all a bit brusque by UK standards (with a couple of exceptions - I had a brilliant WARS Sleeper car attendant last month).

 

[F Great Eastern]

Koleo is by far the best way to book tickets, the PKP site is horrible.