PKP Intercity trains

PKP Intercity is Poland's national long-distance train operator, part of the state-owned PKP Group. It runs the express and intercity network linking Warsaw with Kraków, Gdańsk, Wrocław, Poznań and most other major Polish cities, plus international services into Germany, Czechia, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary and Lithuania.

Four train categories appear in the timetable, and knowing which one you have booked matters more here than on most European networks. EIP, Express InterCity Premium, is the Pendolino tilting service and the fastest way between Warsaw and cities like Kraków or Gdańsk. EIC, Express InterCity, sits a tier below. IC and TLK, Twoje Linie Kolejowe, are the slower long-distance trains that still cover most of the country.

Reservations are where PKP Intercity catches travellers out. On EIP Pendolino services, a seat reservation is always mandatory, and it costs 43 PLN if bought in Poland or around 10 EUR if bought abroad. On EIC and TLK trains a reservation is only recommended, not required. IC trains are mixed: some carry a mandatory reservation, shown in the timetable with an R symbol, while others are recommended only. Do not treat "recommended" as optional in practice. Single tickets bought in Poland already come with a seat attached, so a reservation-free carriage can fill up fast with domestic passengers travelling normally.

For Interrail and Eurail Pass holders, the practical rule is simpler than the category table suggests: buy a reservation before boarding, every time. If your train crosses the Polish border, seat reservation is compulsory the moment it touches Polish track, whatever category it runs as. Fees for these border-crossing reservations are usually a few euros, for example around 4 EUR for Berlin, Leipzig or Frankfurt (Oder) and around 3.50 EUR for Munich, Vienna, Prague, Bratislava or Budapest. Reservations can be booked up to 60 days ahead for international trains and 30 days ahead for domestic ones, through ebilet.intercity.pl, the PKP Intercity app, or interrail.eu.

On the sleeper and couchette cars of domestic night trains, reservations are always mandatory too, with prices rising by accommodation type, from around 59 PLN for a six-berth couchette to 299 PLN for a single sleeper compartment. Book early if you want a private sleeper, since these categories are limited and sell out before ordinary seats do.

One exception worth knowing: the ICN "Nieśpieszny" heritage service, run with historic rolling stock, does not accept Interrail or Eurail passes at all. And once you step off the PKP Intercity network onto Poland's regional operators, such as Koleje Mazowieckie around Warsaw or the Warszawska Kolej Dojazdowa, several of them do not honour Interrail or Eurail passes either. If a connecting leg of your journey shows one of these regional brands, check acceptance before you board, not after.