PKP Intercity : Kielce to Warsaw

Back at Kielce railway station, which had a light dusting of snow on the ground, getting the early afternoon train back to Warszawa Centralna. The service starts down in Krakow and ends in Olsztyn, with my ticket purchased on-line a couple of days ago.

Artwork at the end of the subway at Kielce railway station.

Kielce railway station waiting hall and ticket desks. The railway station was first constructed in the 1880s, but this is a much more modern building, albeit now quite dated.

The old style split-flap boards, I miss these from London Liverpool Street.

Lots of information boards, so it was clear from where the train was departing from.

More platform, track and sector boards, which fortunately do make sense for those passengers paying attention.

A busier service than I had anticipated, with the train being one of the older Stadler rolling stock, but it was all clean and well maintained.

Boarding the train in Kielce. The journey was all smooth and on-time, with the train being nearly full. The seat reservation system works well, with the signage being relatively clear, although not perfect. The staff member performing the ticket check was helpful and polite, although I didn’t see any refreshment trolley working its way up and down the aisles on this service.

The service starts from Kielce (where the 9hr 19 min) is above, then goes to Radom and then Warsaw. I noticed the very strange rail routing today on my map, although there is a line which goes directly from Radom to Warsaw without looping around. I assume it’s not a mainline, but there are no stops between Radom and Warsaw, so it’s an erratic route in geographic terms, which doesn’t make for the quickest of services.

And safely into Warsaw…. There was a little problem here as the staff couldn’t open the doors, which led to the guard who was standing near me phoning someone. There was a good 60 second wait for the doors to open, which is fine when you are near the guard and can see what’s happening, but it’s nervy for those further down who just assume only their doors weren’t opening.

It’s warmer in Warsaw and the air quality is better, I still have a sore throat that I’m putting down to air pollution in Kielce. Anyway, the train journey represented good value for money, around £6 for the three-hour long service.