Country info: Poland (Polska)

Rail companies: PKP (Polskie Koleje Państwowe): PKP-IC & PKP-PR

Timetables and fares (for journeys in Poland) can as well be checked via www.rozklad.pkp.pl

How to Buy train Tickets in Poland? We have a Step by Step Guide

Polish Rail Network Map 

Currency : 1 euro = app. 4.15 Polish zloty (PLN)

Train travel in Poland: train types, tickets, fares, discounts & other useful info

National Train Service:

Train types in Poland: Suburban, Regio, InterRegio/RegioExpress, TLK, Express, ExpressInterCity & international EuroCity/Euronight trains.

Suburban & Local trains in Poland mainly operated by small companies, while regional & long-distance routes are split between two major players - PKP PR (Przewozy Regionalne, operating Regio, InterRegio, RegioExpress trains) and PKP InterCity (operating TLK, Ex, EIC & all the international trains)

• Suburban (SKM & WKD) - Szybka Kolej Miejska (Warsaw metropolitan area and Tricity (Gdansk, Gdynia, Sopot area)) & Warszawska Kolej Dojazdowa (Warsaw) urban & commuter service, no seat reservation required 
  
• Regio (marked REG on PKP website) – regional service (previously known as Osobowy (Os)), no seat reservation required, operated by PKP Przewozy Regionalne. Also in the same category can be mentioned regional railways in Poland (like Koleje  Dolnoslaskie (KD), Koleje Slaskie (KŚ), Koleje Wielkopolskie (KW), Koleje Mazowieckie (KM) & Arriva)
• InterRegio/RegioExpress (marked as IR & RE on PKP website) – medium distance service, no seat reservation required, but you need a special tariff ticket (RE is more expensive than IR, but still cheaper than TLK tariff), operated by PKP Przewozy Regionalne
• TLK (Tanie Linie Kolejowe, marked as TLK on PKP website) - long-distance service (previously known as Pospieszny(P)), seat reservation required in all train for journeys in 1st class (5 PLN) or on the majority of trains for journeys in 2nd class (free of charge for passengers purchasing tickets or 3 PLN for pass holders)
  
• Express (marked as Ex on PKP website) - long-distance service, seat reservation required (13 PLN), operated by PKP InterCity
  
• Express InterCity (marked as EIC on PKP website) – long-distance service, seat reservation required (13 PLN), operated by PKP InterCity
• EuroCity/Euronight/International (marked as EC/EN/D on PKP website) – international trains, seat reservation required for any domestic routes with EC/EN trains (equivalent of 4 euro in case of EuroCity Warsaw/Gdynia-Berlin or 3 euro with all the other international trains)
  

Polish Railways charge additional extra fee for purchasing tickets on board - 10 PLN (in trains operated by PKP InterCity) or 5 PLN (in trains operated by PKP Przewozy Regionalne), unless passegers board their train on a station without ticket counter

Couchette reservations on domestic journeys:

• 6 berth - 61 PLN (or 50,5 PLN for passengers <25 and >60 years old; Tania Kuszetka - 25,5 PLN)
• 4 berth - 71 PLN

Sleeper reservation on domestic journeys:

• 3 bed (Tourist) - 81 PLN
• 2 bed (Double) - 141,5 PLN
• Single - 273 PLN

PKP offers couple interesting budget possibilities for domestic travel:

1.  For a budget travel try avoiding expensive Express InterCity, Express & EuroCity trains, while instead it's almost always possible to use cheaper trains like InterRegio, TLK or even Regio, which are not necessarily much slower. To illustrate let's take an example of one of the most popular routes from Warsaw to Krakow: ticket for Express or ExpressInterCity train costs 127 PLN, while ticket for the same route using InterRegio train costs only 53,9 PLN or 60 PLN with TLK train. While in terms of travel time InterRegio & TLK trains are slower only for app. 15-30 min. (depending on connection). Why to pay more if you can travel the same route more than twice cheaper?
   
2. Early Bird Offer (Wcześniej) - passengers purchasing train tickets at least 7 days in advance receive 10% discount from the standard fare for any domestic ticket for 1st or 2nd class travel on trains of following categories: EuroCity (EC), Express InterCity (EIC), Express (Ex) and TLK trains
3. Both PKP InterCity and PKP Regionalne in case of any domestic connections using a regressive type of tariff, thus meaning 'bigger distance-->cheaper price per km' you pay. In some cases it might be a 'win' situation for a passenger, particularly because the difference between the ticket for let's say 200-300 km and the one for 500-600 km isn't essential. Let's look at one example as an illustration: you want to travel from Krakow to Warsaw and then to Szczecin with fast Ex/EIC trains and the whole journey is planned to be done in <2 days (validity period for long-distance ticket), then instead of two separate tickets from Krakow to Warsaw (127 PLN) and from Warsaw to Szczecin (134 PLN) you simply buy one through ticket Krakow-Warsaw-Szczecin for 151 PLN, while afterward just two separate reservations for each leg (13 PLN each). As result, using the regressive nature of the tariff you save out of nothing almost 50%. The only thing to remember is that ticket issued for use on PKP InterCity trains (TLK/Ex/EIC/EC) isn't valid on PKP Regionalne trains (RE/IR/R), thus it's important to avoid 'break' of tariff, in order to do so when doing this 'trick' with 'regressiveness' try to use trains of one operator company (either PKP InterCity or PKP Regionalne)
4. Last minute ticket - special promo fare (from 13 PLN) for the Ex and EIC train tickets purchased less than 30 min. before train departure (subject to availability). Available only on certain connections. (NOT OFFERED ANYMORE)
   
5. Super Bilet - a limited number of discounted tickets for direct trips using Express (Ex) and Express InterCity (EIC) trains, can be purchased either online or at the station (30-3 days in advance), tickets start from 29 PLN. (NOT OFFERED ANYMORE)
6. Bilet Rewelacyjny (PKP InterCity) - special reduced (up to 30%) fare ticket for TLK trains on routes Wrocław - Przemyśl, Szczecin - Świnoujście, Kraków - Zakopane, Poznan - Jelenia Góra, Rzeszów – Zamość, Wrocław – Szklarska Poręba Górna and Warszawa - Kraków/Kraków - Warszawa. Rewelacyjny tickets can also be bought online from PKP InterCity website
7. Tani Bilet (PKP Regionalne) - special reduced fares on tickets for Regio, InterRegio & RegioExpress trains on certain routes within Poland, Tani tickets can be issued for journey with train change and can be purchased either via PKP Regionalne ticket counter, ticket machines or online via PKP Regionalne website (i-pr.pl)
8. Bilet Rodzinny - special offer for small groups and families from 2 to 5 passengers (including at least one child <16) - 33% off for every passenger in a group for tickets on TLK, Ex, EIC or EC trains.
9. Tania Kuszetka - offer for the overnight TLK trains passengers have a chance to purchase discounted 6 berth couchette reservations, it cost only 25,5 PLN (instead of standard fare 61 PLN).
10. IC-Karnet - ticket allowing unlimited travels during 3 consecutive days on any PKP InterCity trains (TLK, Ex, EIC and EC) with free seat reservation (need to obtain separately either online (only for IC-Karnet tickts bought online) or at the station. Valid for couchette/sleepers (reservation required). Cost is 260 PLN. (NOT OFFERED ANYMORE)
11. Bilet Turystyczny – weekend pass, valid for all the OSO (Osobowy) and REGIO trains from Friday 7pm till Monday 6am. Price – 35 PLN. Including OSO (Osobowy), REGIO, interREGIOand REGIOexpress - 65 PLN. Valid till German stations:  Löcknitz, Tantow, Küstrin-Kietz, Frankfurt (Oder), Görlitz, Forst, as well as till Czech stations: Cesky Tesin, Lichkov, Petrovice u Karviné, Bohumín, Mikulovice, Jindrichov.
12. Bilet Podroznika - weekend pass, valid for all the TLK  trains from Friday 7pm till Monday 6am (seat reservation required, not valid for couchette/sleepers). Price – 74 PLN (2nd class)/ 104 PLN (1st class).
    
13. Bilet Weekendowy - weekend pass, valid for all the Express InterCity, EuroCity, Express and TLK trains from Friday 7pm till Monday 6am. Price – 154 PLN (2^nd class) or 247 PLN (1^st class). NB: remember that passengers require to have compulsory seat reservation on Ex, EIC & majority of TLK trains, plus sleeper sleeper reservation for any train
    
    
    

International Train Service:

a) Regular discounts

• 40% off the regular SCIC-NRT/TCV price for return tickets in connection Poland-Czech Republic (MOST); Poland-Slovakia and routes Warszawa-Budapest-Warszawa; Kraków-Budapest-Kraków; Katowice-Budapest-Katowice; Gdynia-Budapest-Gdynia 
• 50% off regular East-West tariff price on Polish part and 55% off on Lithuanian part for Warsaw-Kaunas (via Sestokai) daytime connecting trains (Vilnius Specjal, one-way ticket for 26,60 euro)
  
• 30% off regular East-West tariff price on Polish part and 40% off on Ukrainian part (Specjal PKP-UZ) for Wroclav-Krakow-Lviv overnight train #35/36 (valid one way and return). Krakow-Lviv one ticket for only 29,50 euro, and additional discount of 20% offered for passengers >60 years old.
  
• 30% off the regular SCIC-NRT/TCV price for return tickets in connection Poland-Bulgaria; Poland-Serbia; Poland-Romania; Poland-Hungary (besides Budapest)
• 25% off East-West tariff price on Polish and Russian part for tickets in connection Poland-Russia (e.g. Warsaw-Moscow 2^nd class one-way ticket for
  98,30 euro)

Passengers can also take advantage of special Multilataral Agreement between a numbee of Central European railway companies. It allows to get 30% (or 40% for youth<26 years old and 50% for groups more than 6 passengers) discount from regular SCIC-NRT/TCV tariff fare on any return ticket purchased for connections between countries participants of the tariff Agreement (Czech Republic (CD), Hungary (MAV), Romania (CFR), Poland (PKP), Slovakia (ZSSK), Bulgaria (BZD), Serbia (ZS) and FYR Macedonia (MZ))  

b) Special offers (SpaSrchiene)

Ticket offers with limited number of tickets per each departure (purchase in advance required):  

• SparDay / SparNight from Warsaw/Krakow to Vienna daytime (EuroCity 'Polonia' & 'Sobieski') and overnight trains 'Chopin' & 'Silesia' (seats from 29 euro, couchettes from 39 euro and sleepers from 59 euro)
• SparDay / SparNight from Warsaw to Budapest/Bratislava (seats from 29 euro, couchette from 39 euro and sleeper from 54 euro); SparNight from Krakow to Bratislava/Budapest (seats from couchettes from 39 euro and sleeper from 45 euro)
• SparDay / SparNight from Warsaw to Prague (daytime EuroCity 'Praha', seats from 24 euro) & overnight Warsaw/Krakow-Prague trains (seats from 24 euro, couchettes from 34 euro and sleepers from 44 euro)
• SparNight offer for train EuroNight 'Jan Kiepura' from Warsaw to Amsterdam via Berlin, Cologne, Dusseldorf (seats from 29 euro, couchettes from 39 euro, sleepers from 69 euro)
• SparDay offer for train EuroCity 'Wawel' from Wroclaw to Hamburg via Berlin (seats from 29 euro); Wroclaw-Berlin (seats from 29 euro)
  
• Berlin-Warszawa/Gdynia-Specjal – 'Berlin-Warszawa-Express' and 'Berlin-Gdynia-Express' (seats from 29 euro), Poznan-Berlin for BWE (from 19 euro)
  

Ticket offers with unlimited number of tickets per each departure:

Bilet Turystyczny + Czechy: similar to Bilet Turystyczny offer for connections within Poland, but includes border regions of Czech Republic as well (map of those here). Only REGIO trains - 55 PLN or REGIO, InterREGIOand REGIOexpress - 89 PLN

Special crossborder tariffs PKP-DB on multiple directions (DB<120km) & VBB system tariffs: from Kostrzyn to Berlin (11,1 euro); from Szczecin to Berlin (10 euro); from Gorzow Wlkp. to Berlin (11,4 euro). And Drezno – Wrocław Regio Specjal (Single, Family & Group for 39, 59 & 79 euro respectively)

Special crossborder fares for connection to Czech Republic: from Międzylesie to Lichkov (4 PLN)

Special crossborder fares for connections to Slovakia (from Zwardon to Skalite 2 euro, Zwardon to Cadca 3,2 euro), Ukraine (Krościenko – Hirov - 1.4 euro, Sanok – Hirov - 3.3 euro) (terminated until further notice) and Belarus (from Terespol to Brest, Czeremcha – Wysokolitowsk and from Kuźnica Białostocka to Grodno - 3 euro one way or 6 euro return ticket)

c) CityStars

• Poland-Germany (called "Sparpreis 25 Niemcy"). For instance, Warsaw-Cologne via Berlin, Hannover (one person – 941 PLN, every other up to 4 pays 470 PLN)
• Poland-Austria (called “Austria Specjal”): Fares below are all for the 2nd class (1st class available as well), children<12 years old go for free, every 2nd, 3rd, 4th person pays 50%. OEBB<100km+PKP<100km - 77 euro; OEBB<100km+PKP>100km<300km - 93 euro; OEBB<100km+PKP>300km - 111 euro; OEBB>100<400km+PKP<100 - 109 euro; OEBB>100<400km+PKP>100km<300km - 125 euro; OEBB>100<400km+ PKP>300km - 143 euro; OEBB>400km+PKP<100km - 157 euro; OEBB>400km+PKP>100km<300km - 173 euro; OEBB>400km+PKP>300km - 191 euro.  
• Poland–Denmark – one person 191 euro (two- 286.5 euro etc.) – without use of ICE trains in Germany and 211/316.5 euro respectively with use of ICE trains
• Poland – Romania – for instance max. distance Gdynia-Bucuresti for two – 980 PLN.

How to Buy Train Tickets in Poland:

National (domestic) and some international tickets for trains operated by PKP InterCity can be purchased online via www.bilet.intercity.pl

Step by Step Guide on How to Purchase Tickets via PKP Online Ticket Shop - europetrainsguide.com/Advice/How-to-Buy-Train-Tickets/Poland-PKP.html

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