First Class onboard PKP's Premium service - EIP Review

Dzień dobry !
Welcome to this new trip report, where I will take a look at the EIP service, PKP's premium service between Warsaw and Kraków.... Is it premium enough ? Let's find out!

Apologies for the poor filming conditions. Due to the Ukrainian conflict, recording with a smartphone is not recommended in Poland.

- TRIP INFORMATION -
RECORDED IN AUGUST 2023
Railway company: PKP
Train type: ED250 (Alstom New Pendolino)
From: Warszawa Centralna to Kraków Główny
Time: 2h13
Price: 142 PLN - 31,8€ for a departure a month ahead

LINK FOR MY BOOK ABOUT NIGHT TRAINS!

Massive thanks to my following Patreon for their help :
Michael S Wilhelm ; David Hoyt ; Terry Patterson ; Spencer Brownlee ; m kirby ; Stephane Thienel ; Virginie ; Manuel Guedes-Vieira ; Mats ; Allan Waldron ; Michael Joost ; Edwin Coates ; Hugh Johnson ; Gregoire P ; Severin Durand ; Jay Newman ; Calvin Mangubat ; Orion ; MacLean ; Fred M ; Andrew Oliva ; Myles Freborg ; Maxime Hurtrel ; Sol Miranda Weiner ; Dr Buckton ; Richard Rieben ;
BenG ;

00:00 : Intro
01:27 : Warsaw Central
01:54 : The EIP
03:29 : Boarding
03:53 : Seat Check
04:55 : Warsaw Zachodnia
05:39 : Onboard service
06:34 : Memories on the CMK
07:31 : Mid roll ads
08:02 : Yumm
08:40 : Shaky walkthrough
09:42 : Toilets Time
10:21 : Slowing down in Tunel
10:47 : Approaching Krakow
11:00 : Thoughts about the EIP
11:30 : Outro

[szymsza]

Cześć!
Greetings from Poland. ;)
5:07 The music you heard is not some Dmitriy Lukyanov, but the Polish composer and pianist Fryderyk Chopin. More precisely, it is a piece: Chopin - Nocturne op.9 No.2

[ixxic]

I travelled that train in 2nd class few years ago. It was ok, narrowish as you say, but then I discovered the buffet car. And spent 2/3 of my journey there. i wasn't hungry so I only had snacks and beer: it was delicious and excellent prized, and taking look on food it also looked delicious. I'd say one of the best catering services in European trains.

[marcinmrozowski]

The music is by Chopin! I don't even know who Lukyanov is lol

[BaltimoreAndOhioRR]

Have a great weekend! Thumbs up as always! 🚅🚅

[stomil]

The CMK line is being upgraded to support speeds of 250 kph. Once finished, it will let Pendolino to travel between Krakow and Warsaw by less than 2 hours 😊

[igorsiuda]

10:06 A route plate! Also, when I rode the Pendolino two years ago for vacations in Tricity, there was an incident at WARS, which resulted in only a buying of Mars Bar.

[ronalddevine]

It looks far better than what we have here in the USA.

[public.transport.reviewer]

I am excited to see new videos from Poland, especially including Pendolino! Thanks for review)

[igorsiuda]

Polish government has plans for second HSR, as well as upgrade of InterCity's New Pendolinoes (only PKP's HST trains), Darts and Flirts (which will also become HSTs after upgrade of their engines to 200 km/h), as part of CPK (Central Transportation Port) project, which includes new airport and new HST line from Warsaw via Łódź to Poznań with branch to Wrocław. It's also planning with modernisation of rolling stock with buying new MUs or rebuilding existing locos and carriages.

[ferseal]

This remainds me my Erasmus so hard. I used to go from Warszawa to Krakow with train once a mounth. Using the IC and the EIP indistinctly... ❤❤

[pepsdeps]

Gdansk central station recently finished refurbishment, and when I saw the teaser last week I for sure thought you were gonna go there on the EIP

[A_Canadian_In_Poland]

6:22 Were those photos doctored images of the 1st generation Italian high-speed locomotives in Poland?
As far as I am aware, only the ETR 460 and tri-voltage TGV-Réseau ever conducted demo runs here.

[ralphzechendorf]

We took the EIP early may, the comfort and relaxing ambiance is great (even in second class). But we couldn't experience the speedy service as we got two delays :
- One because a piece of fabric got stuck on the catenary, the driver had to make an emergency stop and examine the train before resuming the journey
- Another one because the locomotive of an IC train in front of us caught fire and they had to evacuate the passengers. We passed by them with the same images as your memories (train stuck, people standing or sitting on the grass).
Our train drove at 200 km/h for maybe 1 or 2 minutes...
And some call it "high speed"... here in tiny Belgium we have regular IC trains reaching that speed between Brussels and Leuven (not even on the HSL) and nobody would dare consider them "premium" :p
Other than that, yes the luggage thing is a problem. I don't understand why most of the racks are so narrow, only the central part of the carriage has decent racks where you can put your heavy luggage. Fortunately, we boarded the train at Wraszawa Wschodnia, where it started its journey, so we had all the room in the world to put our luggage at the entrance :p

[charlesjb-rv]

Cool reflection of the Palace of Culture & Science at 0:25! I had a wonderful week in Poland in 2009. Too bad it was six years too early for your EIP train between Warszawa and Krakow, but at least my train ran non-stop.

[rezaalan]

Great trip. Finally you trying EIP Train.

[jmcortade]

Amazing video. I'm waiting you from Lithuania.

[alexj]

I took this train from Katowice to Warsaw and back earlier this year, also in first class. It was quite a nice experience, except for the delays.

[costynas]

My country, Romania, ordered a few Alstom Coradia EMUs. They are made in Poland now. We are waiting delivery next year.

[vffncl]

I just booked this train for my trip. I don't know anything about trains, so I did not realize it was a little nicer one.

[maciekwr]

Great video! Poland looks beautiful :)