Empty Baltic Express Eurocity Train Gdynia-Prague in First Class - part 2: Lichkov(Gr) - Praha hl.n.

[@svartvarg1]

Honestly, the occupancy probably depends on when the train goes. It's quite clear, that there must be literally nobody going from Poland to Czech republic on working days morning. I used this service from Pardubice to Wroclaw this week (30th December) and the train was quite full.

[@doc7austin]

30th december should be absolute high season in my eyes

[@zaerikk]

Let's hope this connection will find its passengers. I was looking forward to it, I'm planning a trip to Wroclaw (from Prague) and it's currently the fastest option. Wroclaw (and Poland in general) is becoming more attractive to Czech tourists, so maybe I won't be the only one.

[@marq7302]

I traveled by this train to Praha on January 2nd in the morning and to Wrocław in the evening and it was almost full of people both ways.

[@czechmatebro]

8:46 I'm sure the train will find a lot of passengers. Czechia and Poland are both really popular vacation destinations for one another and the service is very new and wasn't promoted heavily. Great presentation in the video

[@nomistraveller780]

I used this train in both direction in january 2025. The first class was half empty/full, but the 2nd class was really busy. From Kamieniec Ząbkowicki to Strzelin was a bus replacement due to an interruption. I liked the service and the route is scenic :)

[@kevinellis8869]

Hopefully ridership will increase with some publicity. Good to see your illuminating friend back. I'm looking forward to visiting Prague on my Interrail trip in March. MAV have sold me a single room for my trip to Stuttgart a couple of days later.

[@doc7austin]

yes, i want to promote the baltic express train for free on my channel

[@JamesFerguson-w1r]

Excellent Doc. Nice to see the return of the mood light.

[@doc7austin]

yes, called brexie or brexit railways

[@danielconrad399]

Setting the mood!

[@JamesFerguson-w1r]

@@doc7austin Oh Doc, please don't remind me of the disaster that is Brexit....

[@doc7austin]

brexit means independence and freedom

[@JamesFerguson-w1r]

@@doc7austin Hahaha! Many people believed that, I didn't...

[@johnmehaffey9953]

Hopefully this route will get more popular when more people become aware of it, if governments want us to ditch the car then we need more routes opened up , lovely post I’ve always liked the way you present your videos, ps the infrastructure of the track bed looks very well maintained same with the overhead supply, all that is needed are passengers

[@pozitroncz8679]

Just wait for summer.

[@manojbachhan1662]

Very nice video sir

[@pokornyv]

I used this train that train on December 20th. It was relatively full.

[@doc7austin]

full on which segment ?

[@sellier-bellot22]

Great looking railway station !!!🥸

[@doc7austin]

yeeah, praha hl.n.

[@vsatishkumar1]

17:44 you mention "In Ústí nad Labem, we are meeting the opposite-running CD EuroCity train EC 175 Flensburg-Prague. Since October 2025, this train has been equipped with ComfortJet rolling stock." is the year in the date supposed to be 2024 and not 2025? Love your videos and especially your presentation style.

[@doc7austin]

ahha , wrong year; it should be october 2024

[@jfmezei]

You were i a PKP carriage follwwed by Ceske drahy carriages. Where did the automated announcements come from? (curious how they designate a "master" car that makes the automated announcements). Interesting that there is interoperability of announcements between carriages of different railways.

[@damiancholewa453]

great train and im polish

[@doc7austin]

sure thing ...

[@geraldpartan3256]

Concerning the occupancy of this train system, at least the Můj Vlak app often or mostly shows mid to high occupancy. Don't know if this is real, and I'm eager to test it myself qithin the next weeks.

[@doc7austin]

but how does the muj vlak app know about the occupancy ?

[@rosjasss]

@@doc7austin ​ @doc7austin Because its official České Dráhy app, it got in system how much of tickets are sold on this train via station counter sell or via můj vlak app.. And if you can buy tickets via pkp then its 100% connected to České dráhy so they wont sell doble ticket of same seat.

[@geraldpartan3256]

@@doc7austin I don't know. But I guess similar to other systems like those of DB and SBB where the predicted occupancy is shown in their apps. Number of actual reservations and some empiric values I presume.

[@jarekweckwerth1390]

This train is interesting but I too wonder how successful it can be. I'm in Poznań, and in the summer season, it makes little sense to use the train over a certain airline starting with R: the train is more expensive and takes 6 hours compared to 1 hour on the plane. In the winter, the traffic to Prague is probably quite low, and the Baltic is, well, baltic. For Gdańsk, the train makes exactly zero sense, as there is a direct flight year-round (and, for example, for tomorrow (!), it's 230 PLN). So Wrocław, Bydgoszcz and the smaller towns are the only remaining destinations. Hmmm. So either CD have decided that the demand is several times more than can be accommodated by R, or PKP are counting on domestic customers (but do they sell it as a domestic route? the Gdańsk-Wrocław corridor is one of the better served already), or they're doing it for the rail enthusiasts only ;)

[@doc7austin]

i think poznan-prague by plane is way more expensive

[@jarekweckwerth1390]

@doc7austin Well, it is at the moment, but the Big R flights come back in March, and I've just looked and it's about 150 PLN one way on average.

[@cestmoi1262]

The city names sure sound familiar ....... in Deutsch, that is.

[@doc7austin]

bags travel free on this train - not so on ryanair

[@SlovakianLynx]

17:44 A massage from the future? 😀

[@doc7austin]

ah, what happened ?

[@adamsmith275]

@@doc7austin ...He is MASSAGING... the future!...

[@SlovakianLynx]

@@adamsmith275 Hmmmm yeees future has got a fine young body 😆🤣

[@miloskupka6304]

Restaurant ?

[@trupman]

The snail line and snail train does not attract many daily passangers, what a surprise. Slow line and stopping at every small station to substitude for regional trains. Great idea!... Nooot😂

[@doc7austin]

the line via lichkov (wroclaw-usti nad orlici) is really not a high-speed line; but it is shorter than the detour via bohumin

[@jfmezei]

The endless mirror scene has led me to conclude you are originally from Transvylvania. This is why you prefer night trains instead of daylght one, probably hate garlic, and most important, do not show up on mirrors !!!! And also why all humans stay far away from you as possible since they fear you will bite them on the neck, which allows you to take movies of those seamingly empty trains 🙂

[@doc7austin]

yes, i hate garlic ...

[@jfmezei]

All your videos are on empty trains, so this one is no different 🙂 (Though you did allow a short clip where we saw a human being on th train !)

[@cyberskoker]

How will this service survive? This is a new connection, not very popular yet. In addition, you took advantage of a special season of the year. First - internal use, in Poland primarily between Bydgoszcz and Poznań currently has the greatest use. Second - summer season for Czechs and their travels to the Baltic Sea. But one thing is absolutely necessary - a sleeping car.

[@JaNieWie]

A sleeping car would only be needed on the night service. From what I know, one is added to the train set, but only in Wrocław. In the opposite direction, it's also detached there. The reason why is apparently because both PKP Intercity and ČD have very slim numbers of couchettes and sleeper cars that can cross Czech-Polish border. Maybe that will indeed change with time?

[@jozeffrelich6145]

Lepiej by to wyglądało z przodu pociągu,,,ha,,ha

[@pietrovecchio8497]

treno molto affollato !! utili i sottotitoli! ma niente pranzo !!

[@DS.J]

Nice looking train. One thing though, is it just me or those compartments of 6 are just not very attractive? I mean compartments in general. They just isolate people in groups of 6, force everyone to sit face to face (= little legroom, even in "1st class") and generally less privacy and comfort. I was wondering is it just my thinking or others share this view as well? I did notice that many train reviewers or just travelers who travel on trains do point this out as a negative. Why train companies keep doing those compartments? Or am I completely on my own here?

[@JaNieWie]

PKP Intercity keeps coaches with compartments, because they have to satisfy as many people as they can - some Poles still like travelling in compartments more than open style cars for various reasons.

[@DS.J]

@@JaNieWie Compartments used to be popular all across Europe. Some older trains (including older ICE variants in Germany) still have them for both 1st and 2nd class, but the trend is clear - with every new train model compartments are fewer and fewer and many trains don't have them at all. Just wonder why some people used to prefer compartments? I assume it may be older people? And why fewer people prefer it nowadays? I'm by no means a youngster anymore and well remember trains in the 90s or even late 80s, have travelled in every possible configuration, but I never understood the logic behind compartments with 6 or (even 8 in some cases) seats facing each other. Sleeper compartments or private compartments (like Italo Salotto class) is a different story of course. Just why on earth would anyone want to look at another stranger with no legroom for a few hours on a train? Of course those who travel in a group of 6 might prefer that, but most passengers don't travel in such groups so that they occupy an entire compartment. Just such a weird concept that I can't wrap my head around.

[@JaNieWie]

​​@@DS.JI guess this is a matter of personal preference in this case. Regardless, PKP Intercity is still investing more into coaches with airline style seats and multiple units compared to cars with compartments. Hell, our 'New Pendolino' units from Alstom also have compartments, three to be precise. However, these are reserved for families with childern under the age of 6, from what I could see.

[@markoobid2005]

A very good point, and it's exactly why compartments have to say goodbye! Almost no train company build compartments any more, with PKP being probably the only one who do. But we all know that Poland tries to maintain medieval society in many aspects...

[@JaNieWie]

@@markoobid2005 Poles are constantly nostalgic about numerous things, including seating style in trains. I would personally blame them for this. As I said, PKP Intercity are increasing the number of airline style seating carriages in their fleet, as well as obtaining more EMUs, with the new order of Double Decker ones announced just a few months ago and planned to be signed later this year. Personally, I think the reason why PKP Intercity still runs traditional locomotive hauled trains is due to extensive customization they provide. Multiple Units don't have this privilege.

[@sebastiangebal9662]

I think that this train should be seasonal, for example from May to the end of September, when Czechs go to the Baltic Sea.

[@doc7austin]

this train runs 4 times daily in each direction

[@TamasKiss-bv9hz]

NICE VIDEO, TOM FROM HUNGARY ❤🤍💚🙏🙏🙏

[@petrsovicka]

This train is absolute nonsence definitely between Prague and Usti nad Orlici - blocking with ridiculous 4 carriages the precious rail capacity especially for freight trains. It should be either cancelled or merged with some other line to Ostrava, Vsetin or Uherske Hradiste. Generally speaking, long distance trains with less than 7 carriages on heavy duty rail lines should pay extra fines to the infrastructure manager.

[@pozitroncz8679]

Největší vyžírače kapacity jsou všudezastavující osobáky. A za Kolínem už zásadní problém není.

[@bernardbouzon5499]

the mav dining car is on my bucket list

[@pavlik77]

It's quite an experience, I can tell you. So much different from other dining cars in Europe, both as far as the climate and food and beverages go. Enjoy once you catch it!

[@entropy_of_principles]

...very questionable why PKP Polish state rails did not manage to put Polish loco's from PESA or other loco manufacturer and preferred Siemens, quite questionable my opinion.

[@kamilrutkowski2411]

Hi, PKP Intercity suffers from a lack of locomotives capable of going abroad. Only 10 locos Siemens Eurosprinters in their fleet can do it. That's why they are leasing Vectrons right now f. ex. for this service. Regarding polish manufacturers PESA don't have any vehicle capable of multinational transport and NEWAG is during allowance process in Czech Rep., Germany, Slovakia and Austria for their EU200 new loco, but not finished yet.

[@entropy_of_principles]

@ PESA won a tender for over 60 trainsets in my country Romania along with 30 trainsets from Alstom. We in Romanian have same problem with our local rail industry, the problem is the government did not help too much our industry despite we have very capable firms like Softronic, Reloc, Electroputere VFU, etcetera.

[@poulhnilica8987]

They went with whatever was the cheapest and capable of running the route. Next time if there are other realistic options they should be equally considered

[@jkpakosz6698]

​@@kamilrutkowski2411 Apparently Newags Griffins will be certified to go abroad this year. I have read about this somewhere on net recently. Not sure if it's true.

[@ylzerb6188]

@@kamilrutkowski2411 newags are already being used for cargo transport in czechia

[@Lechoslaw8546]

Ten pociąg ma rację bytu w ciepłej porze roku kiedy Polacy chcą pozwiedzać Czechy, a Czesi wypuścić się nad polskie morze.