Alcohol on trains in Poland

hi

i have a latei-sh train back from Gdansk in a couple of weeks and i wondered if it is ok to buy a small bottle of wine (like on the airplanes) and drink it at the table with food (1st class!) - or is any consumption of alcohol not allowed?

thanks

as far as I know they do not sell alcohol on trains, however you are allowed to drink on train as long as you don't make trouble (and many Poles do after a couple of beers or a shared bottle of vodka)

I don't know it if is legal but drinking on trains is quite common - I've never been told to not to drink. On a number of occassions i've seen a "beer cart" stop by each cabin to ask if anyone is interested in purchasing some beer. Not sure if this is provided by pkp or if this was someone's private business venture:)

As Mark Twain would say, "The trouble begins in 8 seconds." As T-Pain would say, "I'm on a train!"

"Flippy Floppys"

In Poland I suppose a small bottle of wine is an insult to the local culture.
If they don't have the strongest vodka available,you can always ask the train driver.

After five years living in Poland i had my first bus and train trip to Gdansk to catch a plane to the UK.... I am happy to report that after being joined in my compartment by several Polish bikers i was offered beer , vodka , and even a smoke of a joint that they rolled up....The ticket lady said we were very naughty boys....beats British rail i can tell you....i was off my face by the time i got to Gdansk...

No complaints about Polish rail travel at all.......

Just don't give to the plane or train driver, or any to any Orthodox Muslims (i.e., liquids in bottles would give an Orthodox Muslim really bad ideas).

Drinking of alcohol is strictly illegal on trains in Poland. There was one thread about it already. In some trains there's a special diner cart called "Wars", you can drink alohol in it if you buy there at the counter.

it maybe be illegal in theory - but in practice as long as you don't make trouble you can easily go with drinking beer - noones gonna ask questions

Wars was not selling any alcohol for a couple of years as far as I know but recently there were proposals to lift the ban (I maybe wrong on this one)

That was a proposal by a PO member of the Sejm who wanted to unban the selling of vodka, but not beer or anything else. Of course, he has business interests in vodka making!

The absurdity of the alcohol ban comes from the way that you can stop at a MOP on the autostrada and buy as much beer as you like, yet you can't have a quiet beer or two on the train. Hmm.

you can if you don't make trouble

many people drink, make trouble and still get away with it on the trains - this is why PKP is loosing customers

u are nor allowed to drink alcohol in the train as well as within area of railway station in Poland. Ticket controller may give you the remark but he is not allowed to fine you for drinking alcohol. BUT the controller can ask for help special railway guards and these ppl for sure fine you for alco consumption. Aditionally all depends on passengers, who has all right to inform train service abt situation when someone is drinking alco/ smoking ciga in the same compartment (if it dsnt suit them of course).

So it s better to check if Wars sells beer .
Besides I do not think if at 1st class compartment you can find individual table to eat and drink in comfortable manner ( mostly there are small tables for cup of coffe.. )

Anyways, enjoy your trip !:)

Theres nothing better than a booze train or beer bus to a football game:)


Thats half the fun..lol


Thats too bad, although we cant drink on public trains we can do it on private rail system.

They will throw you off if you get too rowdy but usually nobody cares.

I'm for alcohol being on trains. It boils down to responsibility and you cannot punish those who just want a drink or 4 to pass the time. Anyway, it'll just mean that people get tanked up even more at a pub before their journey.

Exactly....We were not bothering anybody as we sat quietly getting drunk on the Gdansk train....Anybody thats causing trouble to other passengers , be they drunk or not , should be arrested , fined , or thrown off the train...perhaps they could slow it down a bit tho before carrying out the last option....?

there are too many irresponsible people in Poland Sean - simple as that - this is why I am very much against easy access to weapons in Poland


heheh :) you're so humanitarian rover ;)

Very true. If the logic was sound then, it's sound now. The principle remains the same. I liked going to the Warsu restaurant section for a beer and a bite. It's a good chance to chat with some folk. I stayed for a couple with guys and we had a laugh.

Irresponsible? That's a matter for enforcement and putting police on trains to patrol. NOT for banning adult freedoms.

We had better close the Russian and Ukrainian borders then. Those who want them will get them.

those who are determined to get them perhaps will - but if they are available as a normal good and not only through black market anybody can get them just like that without much hassle this creates a society with many people running around with guns - I don't see it in Polish society - there would be much more gun inflicted deaths (murders and accidents) then there is car accidents now

and now I believe you are exagarating the influx of weapons from the East, too

how can i be exagerating when i didn't give a figure.


high powered gas fired weapons are available and have been for some time. it would be possible to kill with these weapons, but i've never heard of such a thing on the news.

It wouldn't be wise to wave a bb gun about though as the police use more effective firearms.

How did we get from trains to weapons? The last time I checked, alcohol doesn't come out of a gun ;)

from very short distance - sure - this goes similarily - one needs pretty strong determination to use them as a lethal weapon (and not many are aware these can actually be such) - then you got lot's of people acting on an impulse, here - especially after booze - I don't think giving them weapons is a good idea - impulse (also booze fuelled one) is somehow contradictory to determination - I just don't see avarage Pole running around with a gun - a threat to others and himself

As soon as the Polish train authoroties have the infrastructure to stop train crime and stop those scum bags that sell ice cold beer on trains i dont think theyre in any position to bann alcohol from trains at all.

It's a simple case of putting some cops on trains to monitor any rowdiness.

won;t happen any time soon

there were police offices on every bigger stations here up to early 90's but they were scrapped

They'll just be bribed.

Then doesn't it say sth about the responsibility level of some Polish citizens if they can't sit and drink a beer without being pests?

Once again, the case of the minority ruining it for the majority.

A story told the world over. Still, we don't have it as bad as the Americans. I worry about my friend who worked here in Gliwice. He was fine in Albania due to what Bush did but he's in Saudi Arabia now, an alleged ally but founder of Wahhabism. All is takes is for him to run into a few radicals and he's toast.

Anyway, bring back beer on the trains. Beer and a bento, I loved that in Japan :)