波鉄 (Hatetsu)

#PKPIC planning to double Kraków-Bielsko-Biała ICs to 8 pairs in 2 hour Takt from 2026/7 timetable, travel time down to 1h10m, 3 pairs running through to Żywiec. This route probably looks weird to German (why is this not an RE?) and French (What is this weird not-TGV not-TER thing?) eyes, but it makes a lot of sense in our weird organization of passenger rail!
https://www.rynek-kolejowy.pl/wiadomosci/pkp-intercity-bedzie-wiecej-pociagow-krakow--bielskobiala-126985.html

#kolej #rail #PKP #Kraków #BielskoBiała #Żywiec #CrossRegionRail

PKP Intercity. Będzie więcej pociągów Kraków – Bielsko-Biała

Od grudnia bieżącego roku na tory wyjadą 4 kolejne pary pociągów PKP Intercity z Krakowa do Bielska-Białej. Trzy z nich zostaną wydłużone aż do Żywca. Dzięki rozszerzeniu oferty między Krakowem a Bielskiem będzie kursować 8 par kursów w dobie.

Mar 9 at 8:16pmWeb
Show threadrail 🦊Mar 9
@HaTetsu > weird not-TGV not-TER thing

Intercités is a thing

it's… well, very limited

but if you happen to live alone some of the very few routes it serves, it's actually *very* similar to Polish PKP IC trains

heck Nantes - Bordeaux IC i took was the closest to the Polish IC train i experienced outside of Poland I think

Coradia Liner hybrid trains they use there are very comfy and impressively quiet while running in diesel mode
Show thread波鉄 (Hatetsu)Mar 9
@rail Yeah, a Coradia Liner Intercités is probably the closest thing. I wonder what percentage of French people has even seen one :P
Show threadrail 🦊Mar 9
@HaTetsu very few xD

more of them saw OuiGo Train Classique which fucking suuuuuuuucks but it's piss cheap… and also very limited in terms of where it goes

and then you have silly TER services that in practice operate like IC because region governments fill the void that SNCF won't (e.g. Strasbourg - Paris "TER")
Show thread波鉄 (Hatetsu)Mar 9
@rail And the weird bit for those who did see one is that this is doing a very short route! Why would the state involve itself in running feeders? Commuter routes? Isn't that a région thing? How can you out-French the French famously unitary to a fault État? And what's up with the lack of seats right in the freaking doors? Crazy, those Poles, I tell you!