Polish State Railroads in Summer 1939 - International Trains

International Trains

In 1939, trains tended to run over longer distances than today. The Nord Express Warsaw - Berlin - Paris - Calais ran daily and it was the only train in Poland of the L (Luxurious) standard. This train consisted only of coaches owned by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits. There also was another train to the English Channel coast: from Warsaw, Lwów, Kraków and Katowice to Ostend. Warsaw was also connected with the capital of France by a Warsaw - Łódź - Paris train. Another train to France ran from Warsaw to Strasbourg, with cars to Geneva and Ventimiglia.

As for the south of Europe, trains ran from Warsaw to Rome, and in the summer also to three cities in Yugoslavia: Split, Sušak and Belgrade. A train from Berlin to Istanbul crossed the Polish territory. Warsaw, Cracow and Lwów had trains to Vienna.

Warsaw was connected with Prague, Bratislava and Žilina. Lwów and Gdynia were also connected with Prague. Budapest had train connections with Warsaw, Cracow and Lwów (the train from Cracow to Budapest had a coach from Krynica to Budapest attached).

Romania was served twice daily by Warsaw-Lwów-Bucharest trains (in the summer an additional train reached the Romanian seaport of Constanţa). Poland was also crossed by an international train Berlin - Breslau - Katowice - Kraków - Lwów - Sniatyn - Bucharest (with a direct car Katowice - Constanţa). Other transit trains ran between Berlin and East Prussia, Danzig, Riga and Daugavpils.

Twice a day a train from Wilno reached Kaunas. One of them had a direct Warsaw-Kaunas coach.

Passenger rail connections between the Soviet Union and Western Europe required a change of trains due to the difference in gauge. If one travelled towards Moscow, it was necessary to change at the Soviet border station Niegoreloje. Travelling from Moscow, the change took place at the Polish station Stolpce.

Altogether there were 48 rail border crossings in operation in the summer of 1939.