Direct train from Katowice to Prague – is it possible?

Official talks have not started yet. However, the Czech railways already analyse what should be done before the Pendolino carriages enter Poland. – The timetable must be drawn up in such a way that it is possible to travel back and forth during one day: in the morning to Prague, in the evening back to Warsaw. As a result, we would have an alternative to air communications – said Ondriej Kubala, spokesman of the Czech Railways, quoted at rynek-kolejowy.pl.

Technical aspects are the main obstacle. Damaged tracks in Poland make it impossible for Pendolino to reach decent speed. Besides, there is a regulation in Poland, according to which trains using Polish tracks must by pulled by a Polish locomotive. Pendolino carriages, however, are integrated with one another. – It does not mean that the Czech express will not be using our tracks at all. But I don’t think it will be possible before 2010 - thinks Wrzosek.

At present, passengers may travel by Pendolino from Ostrava to Prague. Poles, mainly from border towns, often use this railway line. The train from Ostrava to Prague runs six times a day. It covers the over four-hundred-kilometre route in 3 hours and 22 minutes. Passengers may count on air-conditioning, Internet connection and special parking spaces in the vicinity of the railway stations in Ostrava and Prague.