Originally Posted by
AlicorporateUK
Excuse the (brief) OT but, as far as I’m aware (correct me if I’m wrong), Poland is home to several Ukrainian nationals and mostly further to the tragic events that have affected their own Country. Or are we considering Ukraine part of Poland just for the sake of a good-old western propaganda’s exercise when it comes to bash Poland, Hungary and so on?
G
Yes but they're quite different to the various Nationals you can find in the West. Long may, my man Kaz invite all those Ukrainian beauties!
And I would say, the Polish are more guilty for considering (parts) of UA still part of PL...
Originally Posted by
AlicorporateUK
Got you ^
Yet another plus for the Polish rail system as opposed to other western countries. A few weeks back I had purchased a one-way train ticket from London St. Pancras to Derby (advance single, as they call it, roughly 30 GBP for a seat in First Class), however a significant delay travelling to Heathrow (from Warsaw) prevented me to get on that particular service, meaning that I had to buy a new ticket at the station, costing me over 100 Pounds (this was standard class): one and a half hour on a crap train, which was also packed to the brim due to several earlier cancellations at the other major London station, Euston (needless to say, I didn't even attempt to get to my assigned seat as it was already a challenge to actually get on the train). Absolutely not the end of the world (how to forget the night trips on those far from comfortable TLKs from Wałbrzych to Warsaw!), but still...
G
It's not legitimate to compare an advance purchase fare with a walk-up fare and I am sure your travel insurance would cover a missed departure. Advance tickets sold from MAN have a 3 hour validity beyond the stated departure time if a flight is delayed. I often travel from my parents town to Scotland by Virgin Trains. For whats included, its much better than in Poland. First Class tickets include a very good breakfast and OK-average evening meal with free alcohol, plus lounge access in Glasgow and Edinburgh. The EIC/P 1st Class is just a snack.
PKP would absolutely love to roll out a yield managed system on all their lines, but its only on EIC and EIP. The walk-up EIP fares are equally very expensive if you allow yourself to not think in terms of currency exchange but in terms of Polish-consumers buying power.
So, we all agree that the Pendolino is a poorly executed project, a waste of EU MS net-contributors cash and is a poor proposition compared to EIC which is the same but has more features and lower fixed fares. Lets not take a Dame Edna view of Polish rail. In discussions of UK rail, given the advancements of safety since Potters Bar, we are not even mentioning safety, but it shouldn't be ignored as it can't be taken for granted in Poland given the stats. I am agreeable to consider there are many good elements of PKP vs the UK but I feel its mostly around the direct converted cost of tickets from PLN-GBP/EUR.