Warsaw: What to do?

[class387]

Hello,

I have a trip to Warsaw planned for August and have a number of questions. I have limited knowledge of Polish railways and would be appreciative if anyone could help.

1. I will fly into Warsaw Modlin Airport on a Sunday. Does anyone know what the best way to get to town (Centralna) would be?

2. What interesting traction would their be to sample in Warsaw? Are there still any EN57s (preferablely in original condition) or VT628s running around? Also, how clean are the trains generally (smoking, vandalism etc.)?

3. Any interesting thing to do in Warsaw.

Many thanks.

 

[bradford758]

I've flown out of Warszawa Modlin, there may be details on the airport site.
Bus Airport to Modlin station, then local train, but this doesn't run via Centralna, through ticket available.
Some IC and TLK trains call at Modlin and Centralna (some have compartment stock!)
There's a coach link from the Airport to the City Centre.

Many things to do?
The old Warszawa Główna

is now a railway museum!




Sent from my 4009X using Tapatalk

 

[Harbornite]

You should see PKP EU44s and EU07s, as well as Koleje Mazowieckie's gama electrics.

 

[takno]

Hello,
1. I will fly into Warsaw Modlin Airport on a Sunday. Does anyone know what the best way to get to town (Centralna) would be?

You can get a bus to the station and a dedicated train straight to Centralna from there - the trains are generally headed to Chopin (the "real" airport) or to Zachodnia (the major station at the other end of the city), but almost all seem to call at Centralna. It's a bit slower and less regular than the dedicated bus though. I would have got the train out of curiosity, but I was with people who wouldn't have enjoyed the messing around involved.

https://www.modlinbus.com/ sells tickets for the bus in advance, which is likely to be cheaper than buying from the kiosk at the airport on arrival, and reduces the chances of you arriving to find the bus is full. You can also get 20% off your first order by registering on the site, which is nice. You'll need the printout of the ticket to get on the bus.

The bus arrives close to the subway station and just the other side of the Palace of Culture from Centralna, an easy 5 minute walk.

There is more than one company running buses from the terminal, and your ticket is probably for a specific service, so do make sure you're getting on the right bus!

The airport is small, and compared to central Warsaw you may struggle to find any good English speakers, so try to be prepared upfront if your Polish isn't strong. If you are returning via Modlin bear in mind that the terminal is awful even by Ryanair standards - a few expensive shops, not a lot of places to sit. Passport control to get into the tiny non-Schengen area has appalling queues, and there is no guarantee that the flight will wait if you are stuck in them. Feed and water yourself before you get there, don't spend longer than you have to post-security, and be queuing for passport control at least 45 minutes to an hour before the flight, even though you'll probably be stuck standing once you get through it.

 

[class387]

You can get a bus to the station and a dedicated train straight to Centralna from there - the trains are generally headed to Chopin (the "real" airport) or to Zachodnia (the major station at the other end of the city), but almost all seem to call at Centralna. It's a bit slower and less regular than the dedicated bus though. I would have got the train out of curiosity, but I was with people who wouldn't have enjoyed the messing around involved.

https://www.modlinbus.com/ sells tickets for the bus in advance, which is likely to be cheaper than buying from the kiosk at the airport on arrival, and reduces the chances of you arriving to find the bus is full. You can also get 20% off your first order by registering on the site, which is nice. You'll need the printout of the ticket to get on the bus.

The bus arrives close to the subway station and just the other side of the Palace of Culture from Centralna, an easy 5 minute walk.

There is more than one company running buses from the terminal, and your ticket is probably for a specific service, so do make sure you're getting on the right bus!

The airport is small, and compared to central Warsaw you may struggle to find any good English speakers, so try to be prepared upfront if your Polish isn't strong. If you are returning via Modlin bear in mind that the terminal is awful even by Ryanair standards - a few expensive shops, not a lot of places to sit. Passport control to get into the tiny non-Schengen area has appalling queues, and there is no guarantee that the flight will wait if you are stuck in them. Feed and water yourself before you get there, don't spend longer than you have to post-security, and be queuing for passport control at least 45 minutes to an hour before the flight, even though you'll probably be stuck standing once you get through it.

Yes, I'm also returning from Modlin. I will keep this in mind and try to balance my time between not missing the flight and waiting.

Do you have any recommendations for what to see rail-wise?

 

[dutchflyer]

Have just done the reverse trip last week (for the 3d time) and there is:
2 buses from KM=Koleje mazowieckie (run by ARRIVA) airpt-station Modlin.
also (at least) 2 trains/hr from Modlin to WAW: but
1 is the RL=regio Lotnisko=airport dedicated very new and shiny hourly via WAW (East=Wschodnia-Central-West=zachod-Chopin main airport).
the other one comes from further north and now runs to WAW GDANSKA then ends-track renewal. This station is in the north of WAW and also has a metro stop.
If times are OK-that means you did not just miss it, then buy at aiprot the 19 PLN 3-in-1 ticket Bus to Mod, train to WAW and 75 mins of ZTM=local transport (metro/bus/tram) in WAW to reach HTL or whatever place. (1 GBP=just over 5 PLN) The MODLINbus at airpt cost 33 PLN but is quicker and saves changes. The train comp is KM=Koleje mazowieckie and they offer 35% discount on regular fares for junior=till 26 and senior=from 60. The 19 PLN fare about equals that, assuming you do use the ZTM part too (normal cost 4,40). There is a dedicated train booking office at airport and they did speak good english (of course a former worker in the UK-when I went there and asked).
KM also offers DAY tickets, valid 24 hrs (you can specify the exact start-time), cost 37 PLN/full, or 24,05 with the discount. Does not incl. bus to airpt-thats 6 PLN/single for 12 mins ride. The station at Modlin has been nicely renovated and now also houses a neat bar/cafe and small hostel (dorm beds).
But for a 1st time visit its likely better to use the 24 or 48 hr daytickets from ZTM-valid in all of WAW-exactly till city boundary, on all metro/bus/tram and KM and SKM local trains too (NOT the long-dist PKP!)-there is also zone 1+2, that includes various outer suburban places (not Modlin-that too far out). Buy from any machine-there are 100s of them anywhere and only cancel on 1st entry-they will print expirytime on it. Aftert that only show with control or metro entry. IN the bowels of Centrum metro stop is also a ZTM info-office with excellent free maps for local transport.
At airpt the rates for cash change are, as expected, abismal. Try to pay with card and change later on it town for far better rates at a kantor(f.e. in tunnels out of Centralna or near the ''Centrum'' main stop.
IF you are junior you may be tempted to use the 50% discount for ''studentski'' but that is ONLY if you study in PL!!

 

[dutchflyer]

@2,3. there are stil lots of EN57s, but nonein ''original''-that would now offend even the polski. On a recent visit all where clean and in neat condition-except for some for the driving, when you can feel they're too old. There are various grades and styles of renovation. Its all KM electric though in WAW. ON weekends only also LKA from Lodz comes into town.
VT628 were used (but thats for me quite some time ago already now) on out of town lines/branches to Ostroleka, not to be seen in WAW itself. I found the german doubledeck sets the more impressive part of the fleet.

 

[class387]

@2,3. there are stil lots of EN57s, but nonein ''original''-that would now offend even the polski. On a recent visit all where clean and in neat condition-except for some for the driving, when you can feel they're too old. There are various grades and styles of renovation. Its all KM electric though in WAW. ON weekends only also LKA from Lodz comes into town.
VT628 were used (but thats for me quite some time ago already now) on out of town lines/branches to Ostroleka, not to be seen in WAW itself. I found the german doubledeck sets the more impressive part of the fleet.

What condition are the EN57s in? Do they still have the original front/bodywork? Do you know what routes they serve?

Also, what stock is used on the Modlin trains, especially on the ones from 'further north'?

 

[class387]

As I am leaving in a few weeks and currently in the late stages of planning the trip, but still have gaps in my research, I am still looking for answers to the following:

- Interesting trains (as mentioned earlier in the thread), where they operate and tickets for them.

- Any any good places in Warsaw that are worth seeing.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Adlington]

Mentioned earlier but worth repeating: Old Warszawa Główna station, now a railway museum http://www.stacjamuzeum.pl/en

 

[class387]

Mentioned earlier but worth repeating: Old Warszawa Główna station, now a railway museum http://www.stacjamuzeum.pl/en

Yes, I will definitely try to visit that, but it seems to only be static exhibition. Do you have any recommendations for trains that I can ride?

 

[Adlington]

Narrow Gauge Railway Museum (Polish) in Sochaczew (some 50 km west of Warsaw) runs steam trains (750 mm) every Sat & Sun in June, July and August. There are suburban trains between Sochaczew and Warsaw.

Piaseczno-Tarczyn narrow gauge railway (Polish) runs steam trains (1000 mm) every Sunday March-September between Piaseczno and Tarczyn and back. Piaseczno is just south of Warsaw, the best way to reach it is by bus from Wilanowska metro station.

 

[class387]

Narrow Gauge Railway Museum (Polish) in Sochaczew (some 50 km west of Warsaw) runs steam trains (750 mm) every Sat & Sun in June, July and August. There are suburban trains between Sochaczew and Warsaw.

Piaseczno-Tarczyn narrow gauge railway (Polish) runs steam trains (1000 mm) every Sunday March-September between Piaseczno and Tarczyn and back. Piaseczno is just south of Warsaw, the best way to reach it is by bus from Wilanowska metro station.

These look absolutely brilliant!

Unfortunately I am only in Warsaw on weekdays and assumed that I would not be able to visit these heritage railways, so based my query on the more interesting parts of the working railway. Thank you anyway and I will try to incorporate these if I decide to return.

Isn't there a heritage tram line in Warsaw? Would that run on weekdays?

 

[Adlington]

Isn't there a heritage tram line in Warsaw? Would that run on weekdays?

Yes, there is (T line). No, it operates Sat Sun and holidays, summer only.
Note that 15th Aug is a holiday in Poland.

 

[class387]

Yes, there is (T line). No, it operates Sat Sun and holidays, summer only.
Note that 15th Aug is a holiday in Poland.

How frequent is Line T? I do have a Sunday afternoon free.

 

[Adlington]

Twice per hour.

 

[class387]

Does anyone know whether the Warsaw day ticket is valid on PKP services in Warsaw (eg. Centralna - Wschodnia etc.)?

 

[Adlington]

Does anyone know whether the Warsaw day ticket is valid on PKP services in Warsaw (eg. Centralna - Wschodnia etc.)?

Yes, but not from Centralna (it's served mainly by long distance train operators which do not accept these tickets). But day tickets are valid on all trains to/from Chopin airport, some of which go through Centralna, others via Śródmieście.

Virtually next to Centralna there is Środmieście station for local traffic covered by the day ticket, so a journey to Wschodnia would be covered.

If you want to study all the gory details, click http://www.ztm.waw.pl/integracja.php?i=2&c=103&l=2 (in English).

 

[AlterEgo]

Virtually next to Centralna there is Środmieście station for local traffic covered by the day ticket, so a journey to Wschodnia would be covered.

The long underground section of central Warsaw is very confusing for the uninitiated. Trains all apparently on the same bunch of lines can avoid either Centralna or Środmieście despite it appearing at first glance that they all lie on the same line.

Not to mention the additional confusion about Środmieście PKP and WKD stations...

Warsaw is a massively underrated city - it's cheap, has good value hotels from 1* to 5*, plenty of places to eat, efficient public transport (including single-cab balloon loop trams - one of the best ways to see a city from the outset is from the rear "viewing platform" which offers a great rearward panoramic view). Poland is by far my favourite country in mainland Europe.

If you get a chance, get on one of their Pendolinos. As you board, think of the things you hate about Class 390s, and watch how their version has eradicated most of the problems.

 

[class387]

Thank you for your responses.

I was asking about the long distance (PKP) trains and given the response it is unlikely that I will use any long distance trains, instead stiking to Koleje Mazowieckie services (any recommendations?). I have used similar Pendolinos in Switzerland and agree they are far superior to 390s.

Does anyone know whether a Zone 1 travelcard can be used on the KM services or is a Zone 1-2 ticket nessecary? The website is not clear.

Also, where can one find one of the old Konstal 105N trams?

 

[Adlington]

Suburban services in/around Warsaw are operated by Koleje Mazowieckie and Szybka Kolej Miejska (SKM), the latter serving shorter distances, but parts of the routes overlap.

Whether to use Zone 1 or Zone1+2 tickets depends on where you want to go, not which operator to use. One proviso: some (most?) single tickets are not valid on Koleje Mazowieckie (details are messy indeed), but anything from a day ticket onwards is ok.

And an additional warning: day (or single) tickets are not valid on any long distance train within Warsaw, not only from/to Centralna. For example you cannot travel Warszawa Wschodnia - Warszawa Zachodnia on an Intercity or TLK train, but you can on Koleje Mazowieckie or SKM.

BTW (1) , the vintage T line has a new route due to trackworks: http://www.ztm.waw.pl/aktualnosci.php?i=1948&c=100&l=1

BTW (2): tram services in Aleje Jerozolimskie (main east-west street in the city centre) are suspended, trackworks again. The only line still running is number 9, which now has its western terminus near Centralna rail station. The terminus is a temporary surface switch (I think this is the right name).

 

[class387]

Suburban services in/around Warsaw are operated by Koleje Mazowieckie and Szybka Kolej Miejska (SKM), the latter serving shorter distances, but parts of the routes overlap.

Whether to use Zone 1 or Zone1+2 tickets depends on where you want to go, not which operator to use. One proviso: some (most?) single tickets are not valid on Koleje Mazowieckie (details are messy indeed), but anything from a day ticket onwards is ok.

And an additional warning: day (or single) tickets are not valid on any long distance train within Warsaw, not only from/to Centralna. For example you cannot travel Warszawa Wschodnia - Warszawa Zachodnia on an Intercity or TLK train, but you can on Koleje Mazowieckie or SKM.

BTW (1) , the vintage T line has a new route due to trackworks: http://www.ztm.waw.pl/aktualnosci.php?i=1948&c=100&l=1

BTW (2): tram services in Aleje Jerozolimskie (main east-west street in the city centre) are suspended, trackworks again. The only line still running is number 9, which now has its western terminus near Centralna rail station. The terminus is a temporary surface switch (I think this is the right name).

So is route 9 the only tram running, or just the trams in Aleje Jerozolimskie that are affected?

Is there an English website showing any engineering works?

 

[Adlington]

Route 9 is the only tram currently running in Aleje Jerozolimskie. There are other works affecting the other side of the Vistula (hence changes to line T). But the rest of the network is running normally (whatever this may mean in practice).

I'm not aware of an English page with details of engineering works.

 

[paddington]

This thread was quite useful to me. Just got back from Warsaw and was so confused by all the engineering works. At least the majority of trams had their diverted routes clearly displayed on their electronic screens. Armed with a good network map on my phone it wasn't too bad.

I also liked the fact that there were working ticket machines on buses, trams and certain trains as well as at all the stations I visited. I bought a 15zl ticket for 24 hours and it was never checked.

However I don't know if I did something wrong: the first validation was on a bus (and not sure why nobody gets on using the front door, since drivers don't care about tickets anyway). The current time and tomorrow's date was printed on the back. A few hours later I got on my first train, an S2 train and wasn't sure if I needed to revalidate it, so I did, and the machine beeped and said INVALID. The ticket later opened the metro gates so it was still working.



Is Poland the country with the most denominations of currency in use? There are 15 different coins and banknotes although I did not see any 200zl or 500zl**. However, I was surprised that train fares such as 5,78zl exist and that certain ticket machines actually accept and dispense 1/2/5gr coins - especially as the 5gr is approx 1p/€0.01 and over here and in the eurozone many machines don't take 5p/5c.

I watched with some amusement as a girl tried to put lots of small coins to buy her ticket of 5,78zl. Unfortunately, she reached the machine's limit and it stopped accepting coins at 5,77, then they all fell back out. Where it got a bit sad was that she tried again, twice, with the same result instead of just swapping two 1gr for a 2gr (there were plenty more in her purse).

**I had 20000 Danish kroner and wanted to change most of it to euros - and Warsaw is probably the best place in the world to do such an exchange in cash at a public facing shop in the city centre (except perhaps Thailand). But during the intermediate stage, I got 114 100zl notes rather than any 200zl or 500zl.

 

[Adlington]

I also liked the fact that there were working ticket machines on buses, trams and certain trains

Count yourself lucky. Ticket machines are installed in a clear minority of the vehicles. Some of these machines take only cash, other take also credit cards. Tickets from some machines have to be stamped in the validator, some are dispensed already validated.

There are 15 different coins and banknotes although I did not see any 200zl or 500zl

In very round figured these are worth £40 and £100 respectively. How often do you see the 50 quid note?

On 3 or 4 occasions I wanted to take some £1000 cash from my bank. I was lucky if I got 5-6 £50 notes, the rest were tens and twenties. Once I went to the bank the day before and specifically asked for the lot to be in fifties, and even then the response the following day was "sorry, the head office did not have enough of those".

But we digress, don't we??

 

[paddington]

Count yourself lucky. Ticket machines are installed in a clear minority of the vehicles.

You've obviously spent a lot of time in Poland whereas I've only been there for 30 hours, so all I can say is that there was a ticket machine on every bus, train and tram I took.

I like to "bash" ticket machines so I will try out each style of machine (at least pressing some buttons if I don't need to buy a ticket).

Some of these machines take only cash, other take also credit cards.

Actually, some buses had machines which only took cards. On one bus travelling past the Old Town, several elderly passengers spent quite a while looking for the coin slot and nearly fell over. Fortunately a Polish person noticed the problem and told them to sit down for one more stop, until we got to a bus stop with a ticket machine.

I don't think I saw any machines that were cash only - but I didn't venture very far from the city centre.

 

[F Great Eastern]

This thread was quite useful to me. Just got back from Warsaw and was so confused by all the engineering works. At least the majority of trams had their diverted routes clearly displayed on their electronic screens. Armed with a good network map on my phone it wasn't too bad.

Download the app jakdojade, there's an English version of it as well and it's an excellent public transport planner for the whole of Poland and you can select each city in the settings.

I also liked the fact that there were working ticket machines on buses, trams and certain trains as well as at all the stations I visited. I bought a 15zl ticket for 24 hours and it was never checked.

Pretty much every bus, tram or SKM train bought in the last 4-5 years has the machines, some of the first examples are more limited in what they issue and only take coins but for the last 3 years they'll take cards as well, some buses have been retro fitted but it's very few.

However I don't know if I did something wrong: the first validation was on a bus (and not sure why nobody gets on using the front door, since drivers don't care about tickets anyway). The current time and tomorrow's date was printed on the back. A few hours later I got on my first train, an S2 train and wasn't sure if I needed to revalidate it, so I did, and the machine beeped and said INVALID. The ticket later opened the metro gates so it was still working.

There is an unwritten rule that if you are getting on at the front it is only to buy an emergency ticket if you don't have one since drivers can issue these or you need to speak to the driver for some other reason.

You validate your ticket first time and don't validate it anymore, it's basically an honour system after first validation, unless you are going through a ticket gate at a metro station.