Let me put it this way: the last time I thought of taking a train in the UK it would have cost me twelve times more than a journey in Poland of a similar distance. The journey in Poland would have been on a nice new train if I'd gone Inter Regio (I missed that train and so spent an extra 20zl going first class on TLK) but in the UK I would have been standing in the aisle of an old piece of ****.
It seems that British trains are bad, but what does it have to do with the Polish rail discussion.
It is, as it has been established hit or miss with TLK and the only option is to take IC, which does not travel on all routes, so I am still stuck with dirty, late, lousy service on my route, which costs me 60 PLN per weekend. My problem is that I never know what I find:
- dirty washroom (I don't use those washrooms anymore)
- pushy passenger (well - they were too many thus far)
- mouthy PKP service (one is enough)
-rude teenager with his/her mobile phone ringing in my ears (they seem to multiply)
- slippery sidewalk on train station (the winter is NOT over yet)
- smelly of urine underground walkway (has been like that for years, not it is getting worse due to the fact that the washrooms on the stations are often out of service, or simply closed)
I am trying really hard to find something positive, but I have not been successful.
Well, it is still NOT as pricey as the rest of the European countries, but I bet it will be soon, with the same service - a big TURN OFF.
I just hope to warn other visitors who are planning to visit Poland to take another alternative while travelling, so they can actually have some found memories;)