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Are trains cheap?
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eihpos



Joined: 14 Dec 2008
Posts: 331

PostPosted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 9:49 am    Post subject: Are trains cheap? Reply with quote

Hi,

I'm thinking of taking a job in the small and possibly boring town of Koszalin. It sounds well connected enough though, and I'm hoping to do a good bit of travelling while I'm there. I can't spend all of my (pitiful) salary on travel though so I was wondering about trains in general in Poland compared to the UK or Ireland. How much would I be looking at from say, Warsaw to Krakow? I'm just trying to figure out how much travel I will be able to afford on 2500pln.

Thanks


Last edited by eihpos on Sat Aug 27, 2011 3:34 pm; edited 1 time in total
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dynow



Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 1080

PostPosted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 11:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

pkp.pl
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sharter



Joined: 25 Jun 2008
Posts: 878
Location: All over the place

PostPosted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 2:59 pm    Post subject: erm Reply with quote

Kozalin is ok and you'll be ok. Trains are cheap but don't worry about that as you won't be doing any travelling with that salary. Poland is in the EU and has EU prices now except for food from markets. You're gonna earn just over 500 quid a month. Could you live on that in the UK and travel? Hotels are very costly now and even noclegi (rooms for rent in houses) are 60-70Zl per night. An average hotel in Poznan is not less than 200Zl/night. 80Zl/day is going to be a real struggle mate. It's a pack of smokes, a 20Zl lunch, a sandwich, a 5Zl breakfast, 2 cups of coffee and 3 pints of cheap lager or just 4 JD and cokes!! Then you'll meet a bird..........and they don't go Dutch here.

Hate to pish on your fireworks.
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Sgt Bilko



Joined: 28 Jul 2006
Posts: 136
Location: POLAND

PostPosted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 4:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Two things to remember:

1 Express / Intercity trains require reservations and are very expensive
2 When you travel a long distance the price per km goes down a lot.

As an example:

Koszalin - Krakow non-stop on an express = 151zl single 2nd class
The same journey on normal trains (needs a change) is 71zl

Only going to Warsaw, doesn't save you a lot (125zl express)

Travelling on night trains may save you a hotel bill but, if you don't use a sleeper/couchette you may wake up minus a wallet - it's happened to me.
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hrvatski



Joined: 16 Nov 2008
Posts: 270

PostPosted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 11:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

What the hell is going on in Koszalin, every second post on this board seems to relate to it?

But yeah trains are cheap. Just DO NOT travel when Poles go moving around en masse, i.e. All Saint's Day, Easter, etc. - hours of standing in the corridor sandwiched between others.

It's also compulsory to bring the stinkiest thing from your fridge (kiełbasa cyganska will do the trick) and munch on it for as long as possible.

I usually rode 1st class, bit more expensive but you should get a seat.
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spiral78



Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash

PostPosted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 12:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm being pedantic, please forgive. It's Saturday night late and have imbibed.

But TRAINS are not cheap. It's wildly expensive to buy a train Shocked

Tickets to ride are usually pretty reasonable, unless you're in Germany -they get a whole lot costlier there.
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dynow



Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 1080

PostPosted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 1:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

hrvatski wrote:

Quote:

It's also compulsory to bring the stinkiest thing from your fridge (kiełbasa cyganska will do the trick) and munch on it for as long as possible.


+1.

i wouldn't recommend traveling by train during mushroom picking season either. speaking from experience.
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Jack Walker



Joined: 23 Oct 2008
Posts: 412

PostPosted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 3:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'll never forget the time I was traveling to the Beskids by train, and a family decided to chow down on the boiled eggs they had brought with them for the journey.

There were about 10 people in that family and the whole train compartment reeked strongly of sulphur to the point where every passenger on the train cast them dirty looks.

It was summer and the train was very hot and stuffy and the strong sulphur smell didn't help things much.
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maniak



Joined: 06 Feb 2008
Posts: 194

PostPosted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 9:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Like sharter pointed out, and I'll just chime in quite brutally here, with 2500zl you'll barely have enough to make ends meet let alone travel, so don't worry about ticket prices or what park benches or dumpsters you can take advantage off when visiting neighboring Polish cities.

I'm sure its worse in Russia or Kazakhstan, but still, besides the health care system, you'll get to experience all of Poland paradoxes, pathological behavior, stink, grime and dirt all within covering a distance of 200km (cause it'll take you about 6 hours).
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Master Shake



Joined: 03 Nov 2006
Posts: 1202
Location: Colorado, USA

PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 4:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you want to travel by train, become familiar with using the poorly designed Polish railway site:
http://rozklad-pkp.pl/

As Bilko wrote, the normal trains are much cheaper than the express or intercity ones. These normal trains are designated with a TLK. They are often just as fast as the so-called 'express' trains.

It's a good idea to idea to pay extra for a seat reservation (you may have to upgrade to 1st class) if it is a very long journey or a popular time to travel. Standing 5+ horus in a crowded corridor on a packed train next to a bathroom is no fun. Especially if the bathroom is being used as a smoking lounge!

Don't rule out buses either: http://www.pksbilety.pl/

spiral78 wrote:
I'm being pedantic, please forgive. It's Saturday night late and have imbibed.

But TRAINS are not cheap. It's wildly expensive to buy a train Shocked
It's rare to meet a man who gets this pendantic when he's drunk - only among English teachers Rolling Eyes
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hrvatski



Joined: 16 Nov 2008
Posts: 270

PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 10:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

maniak wrote:
I'm sure its worse in Russia or Kazakhstan, but still, besides the health care system, you'll get to experience all of Poland paradoxes, pathological behavior, stink, grime and dirt all within covering a distance of 200km (cause it'll take you about 6 hours).


Wikipedia wrote:
A paradox is a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition.


I don't really see the paradox in poverty, filth and madness after 50 years of communism, kinda logical. Though I like Poland for all these reasons Very Happy

Some good Polish paradoxes:
- The difference between ladies on Saturday night in da club and Sunday morning in da church
- What the priest says and the radical fashion in which everyone drives home from church (I have been overtaken whilst myself overtaking on a two-lane country road)
- Blind corners are an ideal place to overtake
- The frustration of postal workers yet their refusal to improve the system in any way whatsoever
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dynow



Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 1080

PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 2:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mastershake wrote:

Quote:
Especially if the bathroom is being used as a smoking lounge!


My first trip to the baltic was a memorable one. The train was so packed, people were literally standing in the bathrooms due to lack of space. Disgusting.
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sharter



Joined: 25 Jun 2008
Posts: 878
Location: All over the place

PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 12:34 pm    Post subject: trains Reply with quote

You can't buy booze on the trains now........the killjoys!!

Seriously though, all the advice about booking a seat is sound.

Still, travel on that salary is out of the question.
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delphian-domine



Joined: 11 Mar 2011
Posts: 674

PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 2:24 pm    Post subject: Re: Are trains cheap? Reply with quote

eihpos wrote:
I'm thinking of taking a job in the small and possibly boring town of Koszalin. It sounds well connected enough though, and I'm hoping to do a good bit of travelling while I'm there. I can't spend all of my (pitiful) salary on travel though so I was wondering about trains in general in Poland compared to the UK or Ireland. How much would I be looking at from say, Warsaw to Krakow? I'm just trying to figure out how much travel I will be able to afford on 2500pln.


Trains are very cheap compared to UK/Ireland prices, don't worry about that.

You can, for instance, get a ticket for 35zl that can cover a whole weekend - from 6pm on Friday to 6am on the first day of work - so if Monday is a holiday, you have 3.5 days for 35zl. Fair enough, it only covers the 'local' trains - but these are often just as fast as the express trains.

Ignore the scaremongers on this thread - Poland is as cheap or as expensive as you want it. I did a tour of Poland last summer and paid no more than 70zl for a double, en-suite room wherever I went. One place was 60zl, right in the heart of Bieszczady.

Best bet is to check http://rozklad-pkp.pl/ and play around.

As for all this talk of rammed trains and so on - avoid travelling at peak times, and it'll be fine. I went to Warsaw and back to Poznan this weekend - out Friday morning, returned Saturday evening. Paid 108zl return on the best trains, had a compartment to myself both ways.

Ignore what the doomsayers say - you'll have enough to see Poland. I'd personally be more worried about the sudden glut of recruitment in Koszalin - something is iffy there...
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dynow



Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 1080

PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 3:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

delphiandomine wrote:

Quote:
You can, for instance, get a ticket for 35zl that can cover a whole weekend -


regardless of distance traveled?

wouldn't that essentially mean that all tickets in Poland over the weekend are no more than 35zl? i mean....why else would you pay more than that if you can buy an all weekend ticket for 35zl, no?
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