Berlin-Warszawa-Express

Berlin-Warszawa-Express
Course book section (DB) :	201 (Berlin – Frankfurt (Oder))
Route length:	575 km
Top speed:	160 km / h
Train run
Legend 0 Berlin Central Station 5 Berlin Ostbf 85 Frankfurt (Oder) Frankfurt (Oder) border Change of administration DB / PKP 108 Rzepin 161 Świebodzin 183 Zbąszynek 264 Poznań Główny 364 Konin 443 Kutno 566 Warszawa Zachodnia 570 Warszawa Centralna 575 Warszawa Wschodnia

The Berlin-Warszawa-Express (BWE) is an international joint train of the Polish state railway PKP and DB Fernverkehr . Both companies operate it in the EuroCity train type with train numbers 40 to 47. It currently operates eight times a day with four trains in each direction on the route from Berlin via Frankfurt (Oder) to Warsaw .

history

The locomotive changes in Rzepin are a thing of the past

The brand name “Berlin-Warszawa-Express” was introduced in the spring of 2002; before that, the Euro-City trains running on this route had individual train names that were no longer used. A total of four pairs of trains were combined under the new brand name, including the pair of trains EC 48/49, which did not reach the Polish capital on its route that ended in Poznan , but was connected to the other three pairs of trains by a common circuit.

When the timetable changes in December 2002 and December 2003, the BWE only made minor changes in the minute range. In December 2004, the day-edge train pair EC 48/49 between Berlin and Poznan was discontinued, but it was reintroduced when the timetable changed in December 2007. Since 2006, the Berlin-Warszawa-Express in Berlin no longer ends and begins at the Berlin Zoologischer Garten station , but at the Berlin Central Station .

When the timetable changed in December 2010, the number of daily trains was increased from six to eight. The use of new multi-system locomotives of the type Siemens ES64U4 "Husarz" means that there is no need to change locomotives at the border, which has shortened the journey time by ten minutes.

The journey time for the entire route was initially 5 hours and 44 minutes, since the timetable change in December 2011 it has only been 5 hours and 24 minutes. The border tariff point is the Frankfurt (Oder) border between the Frankfurt (Oder) Oderbrücke train station and Słubice .

From July 2017 to summer 2019, the route construction work between Poznan and Warsaw increased the travel time by around an hour. The trains were diverted via Gniezno during construction .

Vehicle material

Today's vehicle material

2nd class open seating car, as used on the Berlin-Warszawa Express

Only PKP Intercity cars are used on the Berlin-Warszawa-Express . Each train consists of a total of six passenger coaches:

• Car 267: 2nd class, PKP open seating car, some with eight bicycle parking spaces (type B ⁹ mnopuz or B ⁹ mnopuvz)
• Carriage 268: 2nd class, PKP compartment car with handicapped accessible compartment (B ¹⁰ bmnouz)
• Car 269: 2nd class, PKP compartment car (type B ¹¹ mnouz)
• Car 270: 2nd class, PKP compartment car (type B ¹¹ mnouz)
• Car 271: PKP dining car (WRmnouz)
• Car 272: 1st class, PKP compartment car (type A ⁹ mnouz) or PKP open-plan car (type A ⁹ mnopuz)

Former vehicle material

2nd class car in the earlier livery of the Berlin-Warszawa-Express

Long-distance passenger coaches from the two railway companies involved were used in the Berlin-Warszawa-Express until around 2016. Regardless of their ownership structure, all BWE wagons were painted in a uniform design. The wagons provided for this purpose (but not the pre-tensioned locomotives) had the basic color white and also had a dark blue stripe below the window edge, in which the word mark “Berlin-Warszawa-Express” was integrated as an inscription. This special paintwork was considered a trademark of the BWE.

Four sets are required for scheduled traffic, and there were also two reserve sets. Most recently, Deutsche Bahn provided a first class compartment car (type ^{Avmz 108.5} ) and a bistro car of type ARkimbz 266.9. The bistro car comprised a small, open-plan 1st class room as well as a dining room with normal chairs and tables instead of seating groups from the Interregio era. The on-board bistro was managed by the Polish dining car company WARS .

Instead of the first class compartment wagons of the type Avmz ^108.5 , there used to be DB compartment wagons of the type Avmz ^111.5 (Rheingold design) and then for a few years open ^seating wagons from the former DB tourist train (type Apmz ^857.5 ) in the first class section. The six Avmz cars used earlier have been replaced by the open-plan cars for reasons of age. Initially, the DB used six ARmz 211.1 dining cars. The cars were also withdrawn from the BWE trains for reasons of age and replaced with former ARkimbz 266.9 type IR bistro cars.

As locomotives u. a. Locomotives of the DB-series dual-system locomotives of the series 180 , temporarily also of ČD - Series 371 and Series 186 , are used. Because of problems when changing the power system in the Oderbrücke station , diesel locomotives of the 232 and 234 series , which carried a 115 series locomotive for the air conditioning of the wagons, also ran. Today the trains are pulled exclusively by two-system locomotives of the type Siemens ES64U4 , which makes a locomotive change superfluous.

Tariff

The Berlin-Warszawa-Express requires a reservation. A global price was valid until June 13, 2009 , which was abolished with the introduction of the Europe Special Poland at Deutsche Bahn . However, other European railways, including the PKP, continue to use the old price system (as of June 13, 2009). Discount cards such as BahnCard or RailPlus are recognized when purchased in Germany and at ticket offices in Poland. It is possible to issue DB online tickets in cross-border traffic to Poland. When purchasing tickets in Poland, separate tickets are required for the pre- and post-carriage to the BWE, which means that the PKP's degressive price system can only make limited use of its price advantage over long distances. Tickets in Poland are only available at the InterCity ticket counters (orange color) and can be bought before departure. Reservations are not required on German domestic traffic (Berlin Hbf – Frankfurt (Oder)). In contrast to other international DB long-distance trains, the Berlin-Warszawa-Express can only be booked 60 days in advance.

Bicycle transport

Since the timetable change on December 10, 2006, bicycles can also be taken on the Berlin-Warszawa-Express. This was made possible by the establishment of a bicycle compartment by PKP in an open-plan car of the second class. Since then, eight bicycle parking spaces have been available per train. There is a charge for taking bicycles with you, the price for the international bicycle card is 10 euros. The parking spaces must be reserved in advance, the reservation fee is already included in the price of the bike card.

See also

• Lower Silesian-Märkische Railway
• Frankfurt (Oder) –Poznań railway line
• Warszawa – Poznań railway line

Web links

Commons : Berlin-Warszawa-Express  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Further information on the BWE and prices for train tickets
• Train connections: Unfortunately there is no train in it. Report by Felix Ackermann on Zeit.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Modernization work on the Warsaw-Berlin railway line. In: Berliner Zeitung. Retrieved November 22, 2017 . 
2. ^ Berlin - Warsaw Express page from RailEurope
3. ↑ New offer for tourists - Warsaw Express takes bicycles with it. Berliner Zeitung, December 11, 2006, accessed on November 24, 2017 .