Łódź, EC1

Drove to Łódź last Sunday… We felt like going to a planetarium, but the nearby one in Centrum Nauki offered no breath-taking show, hence we had decided to check out the state-of-the-art one opened last year in revitalised building of heat and power plant (hence EC1 name) in central Łódź.

We could have taken the train directly to Łódź Fabryczna station, but given lower cost and faster journey time, the car again had the edge. For no apparent reason, I thought the train covers the distance between Warszawa Centralna and Łódź Fabryczna in one hour and five minutes, but PKP Intercity webpage told me it takes 20 minutes longer, in total as much as door-to-door journey by car, so time which could have been spent getting to the station (in advance) and waiting on the platform was spared. Besides, the price of two return adult tickets was PLN 112, compared to less than PLN 100 spent on petrol (I’ve gotten on drive within speed limits, as playing about with accelerator pedal not only means playing with safety but also increases fuel consumption which hits the wallet painfully).

The A2 motorway between Łódź and Warsaw is more and more congested. Traffic density predicted for 2030 was reached in 2015 and though I have never experience a traffic jam out there (though driving out of Warsaw in the morning I could see snarled-up traffic on Warsaw-bound lanes between Grodzisk Mazowiecki and Konotopa), I am of the opinion three lanes in each direction are a must on this section, just as one more lane in each direction ought to be built on the A2 bypass of Poznań. Some time ago the ministry of infrastructure was considering widening the road, yet I believe this task should be given lower priority than upgrading dangerous national roads to the status of expressway (DK7 from Gdańsk to Kraków being the most glaring example of such trail).

Following the guidelines on EC1’s website, we left the car on Łódź Fabryczna’s giant (nearly 1,000 lots) P&R car park. We could have left it directly in front of the planetarium, since many parking space were free on Sunday.

Now a word on Łódź Fabryczna station, opened in December 2016 along with huge transport hub (changing between trains, tram, city and long-distance buses and car park is possible there). I could not resist the temptation to sightsee the object which had set the taxpayers back 2 billion zlotys and on Sunday seemed well ahead of its times. The station is huge, large spaces are empty, there is no place to eat a lunch (a passenger must make do with a sandwich, cake and coffee, don’t hope to buy a schabowy out there), trade units remain unlet. The impression the station made on me on Sunday could have been misleading, as the place surely does not look that desolated on weekday early morning, when hundreds of Łódź residents (including two of my workmates) set off in their journey to Warsaw to work.

We strolled around the city and the part between Łódź Fabryczna and ul. Piotrkowska has not changed much since my last visit there in 2012. Few new buildings have been put up, the reek of urine and alcohol still lingers. I wonder how many workplaces have been created over that time in Łódź. If Łódź itself does not draw in investors, I doubt its proximity to Warsaw makes the city attractive as a dormitory city of Warsaw. Everyday commuting by car is impracticable due to cost and time wasted in traffic jams. The monthly train ticket costs PLN 400 (which as my workmate says is tax-deductible) which eats up some of your savings made on lower cost of housing and services if you reside in Łódź. Besides, even on the assumption that train ride duration shortens to 65 minutes, you need to add up the time necessary to get to the station (a few minutes before the train departs) and from the station to office or home (my office is under fifteen-minute walk from Warszawa Centralna, luckily). This means your daily commute takes between three and four hours, around two hours a day (ten hours a week, over forty hours a month) more compared to average door-to-door journey time of one and half hour (in both directions) if you live within the boundaries of Warsaw. For me, not an argument to save around PLN 3,000 per square meter of a property if you still plan to work in Warsaw.

Moved the clocks backward last night. I sincere hope this is the last time and in a year Poland stays in daylight saving time for the entire winter. Will not miss the later sunrise, but I am longing for one more hour of sunlight in the afternoon.