The biggest problem with local trains in #Poland is car-centric thinking. The officials can't stop thinking of railways as means of commute for pupils, students and low-wage workers — the people who either are too young to drive a car or can't afford to commute by one.

The most obvious sign of that is the timetable. I'm looking at the timetable for my line — during "rush hours" on workdays you can grab a train every 30-45 minutes. The Saturday comes and suddenly the gaps increase to 2 hours. Two out of three trains do not run — or to put things more bluntly, most of the trains under #KolejeWielkopolskie banner.

To put things into perspective, you need to realize that many cultural events in the city of #Poznań happen on weekends, and especially on weekend evenings. By significantly reducing the number of connections, the people from suburbs are simply cut off from culture.

Not to mention the ages-old problem of "no trains during the night" which means you can't attend late evening events unless you're going to spend the night waiting for the morning train.

This is not just bad. This is complete bullshit elitism — cultural events are only for the city folk and for people with cars. People from smaller towns are treated only as a cheap labor force.

This is absurd and it's only going to get worse unless people really change their perspective. Trains are for everyone, not just the poor. They are a great thing, not a stain on your "perfect" future where every infant owns a car and learns to drive before learning to walk.

#rail #CarFree #PublicTransport

@mgorny YES, this. I live close to Poznań, and the last train home for me is around 11pm. Then a single night bus around 2pm, and then the first morning train before 5AM. This is awful.

@stfn, you're lucky to have a night bus as well. My town is accessible only by train — and then we're both lucky to have a train line with frequent trains, and to have an 11 PM train.

There was a time when that 11 PM train also run only on workdays. I remember having to leave a concert early to go for 10 PM train which turned not to depart on time anyway because of damaged power line — but that's a story for another day.