Europe Trains Guide

Poland (PKP)

Country info: Poland (Polska)

Rail companies: PKP (Polskie Koleje Państwowe): PKP-IC (long-distance trains) & PKP-PR (regional trains)

General timetables for all the rail companies in Poland can 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 

Accommodation: Best deals on hotels in Poland

Currency : 1 euro = app. 4,2 Polish zloty (PLN)


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

 

National (Domestic) Train Service:

Train types in Poland: Suburban, Regio, InterRegio, TLK, InterCity, Express InterCity, Express InterCity Premium & international EuroCity/EuroNight trains

Suburban trains in Poland are mainly operated by the local transport companies, while regional & long-distance routes are split between the two major players on the market - PKP PR (Przewozy Regionalne, also known as POLREGIO, with Regio and InterRegio trains) and PKP InterCity (with TLK, IC, EIC, EIP & all the international trains)

pkp_ir_r_trains

  • Suburban (SKM & WKD) - Szybka Kolej Miejska (Warsaw metropolitan area and so-called Tricity region (Gdansk, Gdynia, Sopot region)) & 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. Regional rail companies in Poland (like Koleje Dolnoslaskie (KD), Koleje Slaskie (KŚ), Koleje Wielkopolskie (KW), Koleje Mazowieckie (KM) & Arriva) as well can be mentioned in this category, since they are basically local transport companies serving regional connections.
  • InterRegio (marked as IR on PKP website) – medium distance service, no seat reservation required, but a special express supplements applies, 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, however also can be issued "blank reservation" (no seat is guaranteed, but allows you to board the train). TLK trains are basically your cheapest long-distance travel option in Poland.
  • InterCity (marked as IC on PKP website) - long-distance service (previously known as Express (Ex), seat reservation required, operated by PKP InterCity (many long-distance trains which used to be TLK these days are being rebranded into InterCity)
  • Express InterCity (marked as EIC on PKP website) – long-distance service, seat reservation required, operated by PKP InterCity
  • Express InterCity Premium (marked as EIP on PKP website) - new high-speed long distance service (Warsaw to Gdansk, Warsaw to Krakow, Warsaw to Wroclav, Warsaw to Katowice and other major routes within Poland), seat reservation required, operated by PKP InterCity
  • EuroCity/EuroNight/International (marked as EC/EN/D on PKP website) – international trains, seat reservation required for domestic journeys with EC/EN trains (e.g. 4 euro equivalent in case of EuroCity trains Warsaw to Berlin and Gdynia to Berlin)

Also keep in mind that Polish Railways charge additional fee for buying your ticket on board of a train from conductor - 10 PLN (trains operated by PKP InterCity) or 4-8 PLN (in the trains operated by PolRegio/PKP Przewozy Regionalne), unless passenger boarded the train on a station without a ticket counter.

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Couchette reservations for domestic journeys:

  • 6 berth - 59 PLN
  • 4 berth - 69 PLN

Sleeper reseration for domestic journeys:

  • 3 bed (Tourist) - 79 PLN
  • 2 bed (Double) - 159 PLN
  • Single - 299 PLN

 

PKP offers its client a number of interesting options to save money on domestic travel in Poland:

  1. Train type matters!  When traveling in Poland on budget and having no chance to purchase you train tickets well in advance potential passengers should try to avoid expensive Express InterCity Premium, Express InterCity & EuroCity trains. Instead of those expensive trains almost always it is possible to travel on the same route using much cheaper trains like InterRegio, InterCity/TLK or even Regio trains. For instance, let's take a look at very popular trip from Warsaw to Krakow (or vice versa, it doesn't matter). Standard full-fare ticket for the fancy Express InterCity Premium train will cost you 150 PLN (i.e > 35 euro for the 2+ hour journey), for the Express InterCity you will have to pay 139 PLN, while the ticket for TLK train cost just 60-64 PLN, InterCity will cost you 62-66 PLN. Yes, it's more than twice cheaper, while in terms of travel time some InterCity & TLK trains are slower than EIP/EIC only by 10-20 minutes. So why to pay more?
  2. Super Promo & Promo tickets: passengers who prefer to travel fast and ok buying their tickets in advance can take advantage of the special discounted promo fares for the newly introduced Express InterCity Premium (Pendolino) and Express InterCity trains. Tickets with the Super Promo offer start from only 49 PLN (on short relations even from 29 PLN) and can be purchased as early as 30 days before the journey. Potential passengers however should remember that number of Super Promo tickets per each train departure is limited, thus such tickets can get sold out rather quickly. Super Promo tickets can be bought online via PKP-IC Ticket Shop.
  3. Wcześniej Offer ( 'Earlier-Cheaper' ): in advance ticket purchase for your journeys with TLK, InterCity, Express InterCity and Express InterCity Premium trains can get passengers up to 30% discount from the regular base tariff price. 'Earlier-Cheaper" tickets are available in 3 price levels (purchased 30-21 days in advance with 30% discount, 20-14 days with 20% off and 7-3 days with 10% discount), but again the Wczesniej Offer ticket quota per each price level is limited. Wczesniej Offer tickets can be bought online via PKP-IC Ticket Shop.
  4. Biletowa czwartkomania: Every Thursday PKP puts on sale limited amount of promo price tickets for the specific (mainly between major stations) connections on the following week. These tickets start from only 29 PLN and can be an interesting option for those who missed Super Promo or Early Bird tickets.
  5. One ticket & couple journeys! Major Polish rail companies (PKP InterCity and PolRegio) rely on the so-called regressive tariff system for issuing their train tickets, thus it means that the longer distance passenger travels --> cheaper price per km he or she pays. On many ocassions passengers can take advantage of such tariff system, because de-facto difference between ticket price for let's say 300 km journey and 900 km one is not very proportional (e.g. in 2nd class TLK or InterCity train it's 60 PLN vs. 90 PLN). Lets take a look at the example on how to use it in your favor: journey from Krakow to Szczecin with stopover in Warsaw, instead of two separate tickets from Krakow to Warsaw (60 PLN) and from Warsaw to Szczecin (67 PLN) you simply can buy one through ticket Krakow-Warsaw-Szczecin for 88 PLN and afterward just obtain two separate reservations for each leg of the journey. As result, regressive nature of the tariff can save you basically out of nothing more than 30% of ticket fare. The only two things to remember here is that tickets issued for use on PKP InterCity trains (TLK/IC/EIC/EC) isn't valid on PKP Regionalne trains (REG/IR) and vice versa, thus it's important to avoid 'breaks' of tariff, in order to do so passengers should use trains of one company on all the planned travel legs (either PKP InterCity or PKP Regionalne). Second nuance is that tickets for medium and short distances are valid for 2 days only, so the entire trip (meaning two or more legs) should be accomplished within the ticket validity period.
  6. Bilet Taniomiastowy (Relacyjny) ( "Route Ticket" ): reduced fare for the tickets on certain routes when using TLK or InterCity (IC) trains. Bilet Taniomiastowy tickets can be bought online via PKP-IC Ticket Shop.
  7. Bilet Rodzinny ( "Family Ticket" ): special offer for the small groups & families from 2 to 5 passengers (including at least one child <16). 30% off for every passenger in group for tickets on TLK, IC, EIC and EIP trains.
  8. Tania Kuszetka ("Cheap Berth"): offer for passengers traveling on overnight TLK trains, chance to purchase discounted 6 berth couchette berth reservation for only 33 PLN (instead of standard fare 53 PLN). Tania Kuszetka reservations can be bought online via PKP-IC Ticket Shop.
  9. Bilet Weekendowy ( "Weekend Ticket" ): weekend pass valid from Friday 7 pm till Monday 6 am either on any InterCity and TLK trains (81 PLN 2nd class or 111 PLN 1st class) or on any InterCity, Express InterCity, Express InterCity Premium and TLK trains (164 PLN 2nd class or 264 PLN (1st class). NB: passengers should remember that seat reservation on EIC, EIP and TLK trains are compulsory, while journey with EIP require payment of additional surcharge.
  10. Senior's Ticket: a permanent offer for everyone over 60 years of age. A 30% discount applies to trips on all categories (TLK, IC, EIC & EIP) of trains in 1st and 2nd class. To confirm eligibility for the discount, a photo identification should be shown to the conductor confirming the identity and age of the passenger (ID card will suffice).
  11. pkp_tlk_train
    Bilet Turystyczny ( "Tourist Ticket" ): weekend pass offered by PKP-PR, valid for all the regional trains from Friday 6 pm till Monday 6 am. Bilet Turystyczny costs either 39 PLN (only Regio trains) or 45 PLN (Regio, Arriva RP, KD, KŚ, KW, ŁKA trains). Bilet Turystyczny is valid also till the border German stations: Löcknitz, Tantow, Küstrin-Kietz, Frankfurt (Oder), Görlitz, Forst and border Czech stations: Cesky Tesin, Lichkov, Petrovice u Karviné, Bohumín, Mikulovice, Jindrichov
  12. Ty i raz, dwa, trzy ( "You & one, two, three") offer: special offer for groups/families, first passenger pays full fare, while others (up to 3 passengers) can travel with up to 30% discount
  13. Połączenie w dobrej cenie ( "Trips in Good Price" ): discounted tickets for Regio & InterRegio trains on certain short-distance connections within Poland, which are sold in unlimited number (= no in advance purchase required)

 

International Train Service:

a) Regular discounts

  • 40% off standard SCIC-NRT for any return ticket between Poland and Czech Republic (so-called MOST tariff)
  • 40% off Polish and 60% off Slovak part on journeys between Poland and Slovakia (in connections via Czech Republic a 40% discount applies for the Czech leg)
  • 40% off Polish, Czech, Slovak and Hungarian parts on tickets between Poland and Hungary 
  • 50% off standard East-West (SCIC-EWT) tariff fare on Polish part and 55% off on Lithuanian part for journeys between Poland and Lithuania (via Sestokai)
  • 30% off standard East-West (SCIC-EWT) tariff fare on Polish and Ukrainian parts ("Specjal UZ-PKP") for Wroclaw/Warsaw/Krakow-Lviv connection (trains # 35/36 & #51/52) + additional 10% discount for senior passengers >60 years old. For Warsaw-Kyiv connection (train # 1201/67) discount is 15% for Polish part & 20% for Ukrainian part.
  • 30% off standard SCIC-NRT tariff fare for any return ticket in connection between Poland and Bulgaria, Poland and Serbia, Poland and Romania
  • SCIC-IRT tickets: "Polonez" train from Warsaw to Moscow (ticket + 3 bed sleeper reservation - 109,30 euro, ticket + double 154,30 euro & 196,40 euro for ticket+single sleeper reservation). From Warsaw to Minsk with BCh carriage: ticket + 3 bed sleeper reservation - 62,70 euro, ticket + double 87,50 euro & 129,60 for ticket+single sleeper reservation

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 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 from Warsaw & Krakow to Vienna daytime (EuroCity 'Polonia' & 'Sobieski') - 2nd class   seats from 29 euro, 1st class seats from 39 euro
  •  SparDay from Gdynia & Gdansk to Vienna daytime (EuroCity 'Sobieski') - 2nd class  seats from 39 euro, 1st class seats from 49 euro
  •  SparDay from Katowice to Vienna daytime (EuroCity 'Moravia', 'Polonia' & 'Sobieski') - 2nd class  seats from 19 euro, 1st class seats from 29 euro
  •  SparNight from Warsaw & Krakow to Vienna overnight ('Chopin' & 'Silesia') - seats from 29 euro, couchettes from 39 euro, sleepers from 59 euro
  •  SparDay / SparNight from Warsaw to Bratislava & Budapest (EuroCity 'Varsovia') - seats from 19 euro, couchettes from 39 euro and sleepers from 49 euro 
  •  SparDay / SparNight from Krakow to Bratislava & Budapest - seats from 19 euro, couchettes from 39 euro and sleepers from 49 euro 
  • SparDay / SparNight from Warsaw to Prague - seats from 19 euro, couchettes from 29 euro and sleepers from 49 euro
  • SparDay / SparNight from Krakow to Prague - seats from 19 euro, couchettes from 29 euro and sleepers from 40 euro
  • SparDay from Warsaw to Ostrava - 2nd class  seats from 14 euro, 1st class seats from 24 euro
  • SparNight offer for EuroNight 'Jan Kiepura' train from Warsaw to Cologne (via Dortmund, Essen, Dusseldorf) - seats from 29 euro, couchettes from 39 euro, sleepers from 69 euro 
  • Berlin-Warszawa & Berlin-Gdynia-Specjal – 'Berlin-Warszawa-Express' & 'Berlin-Gdynia-Express' daytime trains - 2nd class seats from 29 euro or 1st class seats from 39 euro; Poznan to Berlin with BWE from 16 euro, Poznan to Franfurt Oder from 12 euro
    skm_warsz-zach

Ticket offers with unlimited number of tickets per each departure:

Czech Republic:

  • Cena relacyjna offer for one-way trips between Poland and Czech Republic (and vice versa): Warsaw to Prague 65 euro, Krakow to Prague 54 euro, Katowice to Prague 49 euro, Warsaw to Ostrava 30,50 euro, Krakow to Ostrava 17,50 and Katowice to Ostrava 13 euro
  • "Visit Ostrawa" offer: special 6 euro fare for one-way journeys between Katowice & Ostrava
  • Bilet Turystyczny + Czechy: similar to Bilet Turystyczny offer (see above) for journeys within Poland, but includes also border regions of Czech Republic (map of those here).  Bilet Turystyczny+Czechy cost 55 PLN  
  • Special crossborder fares for certain short distance connections to Czech Republic: from Międzylesie to Lichkov and Zebrzydowice to Petrovice u Karvine for 6 PLN one way, whereas on the border crossing Jakuszyce - Harrachov train tickets issued till the border point are valid till first station of the neigboring country

Ukraine:

  • "Kijow Specjal": 60% discount for Warsaw-Kyiv #67/68 train tickets on both Polish & Ukrainian legs of the journey
  • "Specjal UZ-PKP": 80% discount for the tickets to high-speed InterCity trains Przemysl-Lviv-Kyiv & railbus Chelm-Kowel-Rivne-Zdolbyniv (exact prices you can find on our Ukraine page
  • "Odessa Specjal": 60% discount for Przemysl-Lviv-Odesa #35/36 train tickets
  • Ukraine (Krościenko – Hirov - 1.4 euro, Sanok – Hirov - 3.3 euro) (connection terminated until further notice)

Germany:

  • VBB system fares: from Rzepin to Berlin for 11,80 euro, from Slubice to Berlin for 11,10 euro, from Kostrzyn to Berlin for 11,80 euro, from Szczecin to Berlin for 11 euro, from Gorzow Wlkp. to Berlin for 12 euro, from Zielona Góra to Berlin for 14,4 euro, etc.
  • Bilet graniczny Polska - Niemcy (short cross-border connections): Szczecin Główny - Grambow one-way fare is just 10 PLN; Słubice - Frankfurt(Oder) and Zasieki - Forst(Lausitz) one way fare is 4 PLN; Zgorzelec - Görlitz is totally free in case you have a PKP ticket till Zgorzelec
  • Drezno – Wrocław Regio Specjal: 174 PLN (Wroclav-Dresden return ticket for one passenger), 416 PLN (Wroclaw-Dresden return ticket for group up to 5 passengers); 92 PLN (Zgorzelec-Dresden return ticket for one passenger), 176 PLN (Zgorzelec-Dresden return ticket for group up to 5 passengers) etc.

Slovakia: from Zwardon to Skalite return is 2 euro, Zwardon to Cadca return is 3,20 euro (tickets are valid for 3 days); Rzeszów – Medzilaborce 26 zł (5,90 euro), Sanok – Medzilaborce 13,4 zł (3,00 euro), etc.

Hungary: "Budapest Specjal" offer, which is basically a discounted return ticket between Poland and Budapest (Warsaw-Budapest-Warsaw for 49 euro, Krakow-Budapest-Krakow or Katowice-Budapest-Katowice for 39 euro)

Lithuania: newly reintroduced direct service from Bialystok to Kaunas with ticket price 11,00 euro, from Augustow to Kaunas 8,40 euro, from Suwalki to Kaunas 8 euro, etc.

Belarus:

  • short cross-border fares: from Terespol to Brest or from Kuźnica Białostocka to Grodno for 16,90 PLN one-way or 33,80 PLN return, from Biała Podlaska to Brest for 25,90 PLN, from Białystok to Grodno 29,90 PLN, etc.
  • "Minsk Specjal": special fares for the daytime journey from Warsaw to Minsk (train #127/128 with change in Brest to BCh domestic #727/728). Warsaw to Brest 13,80 euro, Warsaw to Baranovichi 16,40 euro, Warsaw to Minsk 18 euro, etc.
  • "Grodno Specjal": 60% discount on the #303/304 Krakow-Grodno train (Warsaw to Grodno 15,70 euro; Krakow to Grodno 21,50 euro, etc.)

c) CityStars

Not offered anymore


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How to Buy Train Tickets in Poland:

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

bialystok_train_station

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

 

Do you still have further questions or want to share your own travel experience? You are welcome on our Forum page

  

 

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