Both Easter Sunday and Monday, against long-term forecasts, brought
clement weather. Though the temperature did not hit balmy +20C (it is bound to
get that warm tomorrow), cloudless skies and warm breeze definitely carried the
first whiff of spring in the air.
I spent most of the Sunday in Ursus with the family, yet was free to
organise some leisure for myself on Monday. Since the bike was not ready for
jumping on the saddle and cycling away and I did not feel like pottering about,
I opted for a bit of further travel option – by Koleje Mazowieckie train, to
Zalesie Górne to check whether the Wisła Resort, whose best days were seen in
1970s and 1980s, holds up well.
Kind of shame to admit, this was my first journey by Koleje Mazowieckie
for which I had to buy a separate ticket (until then I could do with the Warsaw
travelcard). Before setting off, at home, I checked how much the trip would set
me back. Koleje Mazowieckie’s fare list is a pitiable example of lack of
simplicity. The very fare tariff is 162 pages long, while the attachment to it
is composed of another 64 pages (hint: relevant information can be found on
page 13 of the attachment). A passenger who wishes to take a train wants to
simply know how much they would pay, instead of learning rail operators
recognise more than a dozen types of discounts and by what documents carried
along they need to be proven. Then a penny drops – the service search tool,
apart from finding suitable services, calculates the cost of a journey. Quick,
yet not entirely intuitive.
My no-discount return ticket from NI to Zalesie Górne and back (16
kilometres there and back) would cost me PLN 10.73. Actually this is the price
for experience of train travel, since had I chosen to get there by car on my
own, the very petrol would have set me back some PLN 6.00, not to mention if I
had taken three passengers to the car, the journey by car would have been six
to seven times more economical…
My train was due to depart at 13:51. On my way to the station I realised
I had forgotten to take the camera. Too late to go back home, I had to do with
the smartphone, hence the skimpy photo coverage. The nearly empty KM train pulled
up at time. As a passenger willing to purchase a ticket, I boarded the first
carriage through the first door, as instructed by Koleje Mazowieckie. Not a
ticket collector in sight; I walked the first set of three carriages from end
to end twice and did not find any crew member. Eventually, I ended up
free-riding (for the first time in my life) to Zalesie Górne, as there was no
one who could sell me the ticket. The nearly-empty train trundled from NI to
Piaseczno for 15 minutes. The reason for ultra-low speed is the on-going
modernisation of Warsaw-Radom line, resulting in trains running in contraflow
down to Piaseczno station (then the journey goes smoothly). I feel sorry for
commuters riding from Piaseczno every day if it looks bad like this, yet after
they endure the repair and reconstruction, they will enjoy far faster and more
comfortable SKM services.
I strolled around the place for an hour before heading for the station
to catch my train home (the journey back also took 20 minutes, but I did buy a
single ticket, for PLN 5.80). My social observation was that I was the only
person sauntering there alone. It might have been a matter of the specific day,
or just a coincidence, yet I wonder whether it takes a lot of courage to organise
and spend time on one’s own if fate brings such situation on us. Definitely, if
there is no one to keep you company, it is better to go out, move one’s a**e,
breath in fresh air lap up the beauty of the nature, then spending time at
home…
Enough writing for today, the bike’s ready for the first ride in 2016,
off to Powsin leisure park for the whole afternoon!
No comments:
Post a Comment