My experience taking the train from Warsaw to Łodz

The next few posts will cover my full day in Łodz. I got there at 10:20am and left at 8:27pm, so 10 hours covering as much ground as I could. But it all started with the train ride.

Last year Judy and I relied on the trains as our primary mode transportation, including the major legs from Krakow to Wrocław and Poznan to Gdansk, as well as some locals, like visiting Malbork Castle and checking out Sopot. So I felt pretty comfortable with taking the train to Łodz for a day trip.

Started smoothly enough with a bus to Warszawa Głowna where I quickly found the departures info and my designated platform.

Took a couple of vibe shots. What you would expect from a major train station.

Also found this allegedly helpful screen that suggested where you could expect your wagon to stop along the platform. Nice idea. Maybe eliminate the last minute scramble from one end of the platform to the other when you see your wagon number whizzing by you.

Well, I was in Wagon 7 and I lined myself up at edge of sector 2 & 3 and I don't think that's where the wagon ended up stopping.

But then, I also wasn't sure of anything once I boarded the train. Found seat 75 and it looked nothing like what I expected. It was one of those configurations of 4 seats facing each other around a table set in between them, which I knew I did not book. Hmm. Now what? The train was not full so I kind of wandered through a couple of cars until I found another seat 75. I sat down there. I was a little puzzled because, naively I guess, I was not expecting multiple seat 75s on this local train to Łodz.

After about 5-10 minutes the ticket taker came around, scanned my ticket, and told me I was in the wrong car. She pointed off in the direction I should look for my seat, and off I went. What I ended up learning this day -- and who knows if it's a univerally relevant lesson or just was the method in place for IC 1906 that morning -- is that while the wagons can have various numbers on them, only one of those numbers is actually correct.

e.g. this is not wagon 13, it's wagon 7 ...

... and this is not wagon 2, it's wagon 6 ...

... and I guess the number on the LED screen within the car should have been a clue, too?

End of the day, I got there. It's a short, comfortable ride that drops you in a nice looking train station. Clean, small platform area.

Clean, quiet waiting area at entry level.

Note well: the toilets there are coin-op - bring some small złoty change if you want to be able to use them

Snagged a shot of the dramatic entryway as I waited for my Bolt. Next post will focus on where that Bolt took me to start the day of sightseeing in Łodz.