Wawel (train run)
The EuroCity Wawel was an international express train named after the former residence of the Polish kings in Krakow Wawel . Since 1995 it has connected the cities of Hamburg , Berlin , Wroclaw and, until 2012, Krakow, initially as InterCity . In 2006 it was upgraded to EuroCity by the participating railway companies DB Fernverkehr and PKP Intercity . In December 2014 this train connection was given up.
route
The "Wawel" changed its route several times:
Between Hamburg and Berlin it was not routed via the direct Berlin – Hamburg connection used by the other long-distance trains , but via Lüneburg and the Stendal – Uelzen railway line . In doing so, he integrated the city of Salzwedel into long-distance passenger rail transport. At times the Brandenburg state capital Potsdam was included in his route. To the east of Berlin, the “Wawel” first ran via Frankfurt (Oder) and then via the Rzepin – Wrocław railway .
Since 2001 it has been operated via Cottbus and thus integrated Lusatia into long-distance passenger rail transport. To the east of Cottbus, his route initially took him via Żary , Żagań and Legnica to Breslau.
In 2010, until the connection was discontinued, it was led from überary via the Węgliniec station due to the significantly better development status. From Wroclaw, the “Wawel” was extended between 1995 and 2012 via Katowice to Krakow Central Station .
Although the train no longer reached its eponymous endpoint between 2012 and 2014, it retained its ancestral name.
attitude
The train was traveling much slower than the trains running in the 1930s between Berlin and Upper Silesia speed rail cars . The travel time between Berlin and Breslau was around five hours due to the gap in electrification and expansion east of Cottbus and the associated two locomotive changes. This meant that the train was hardly competitive in terms of travel times at the latest after the completion of the parallel motorway .
With the abandonment of the connection to Krakow, the number of passengers continued to fall. DB Fernverkehr finally used a parallel IC bus that was in direct competition with the train connection. He was therefore discontinued when the timetable changed in December 2014.
The Cottbus Chamber of Commerce and Industry is campaigning for its reintroduction.
Culture train
Since April 30, 2016, the “award-winning” cultural train with special programs has been running on the old route from Berlin to Wroclaw on Saturdays and Sundays . Since December 2018, this train has also been running on Fridays. As a regional express , however, it is a local train and is driven with the class 628 multiple units . The travel time between Berlin and Wroclaw is again around five hours.
Individual evidence
- ^ A tragedy of the German-Polish railway cooperation
- ↑ https://www.cottbus.ihk.de/standortpolitik/Infektur/Schienenausbau/Wirtschaft- sucht-neue-Zukunft-fuer-eingestelten-EC-Wawel/ 651350
- ↑ vbb.de: Information on the Kulturzug ( memento of the original from November 14, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ vbb.de: With the culture train to Breslau (Wrocław). (accessed on March 2, 2019)
