NATIONAL passenger operators in Poland and Lithuania - PKP Intercity and LTG Link - have signed a letter of intent to improve the train service between Warsaw and Vilnius.
Services will be improved in stages. Although passengers will still have to change trains at Mockawa in Lithuania due to the change of track gauge from 1435mm to 1520mm, this will take no more than 20 minutes.
From December the journey time between Warsaw and Vilnius will be cut by around 1 hour, but the objective is to achieve a 7-hour journey time. The letter of intent assumes that there will be at least two inter-capital services per day for the 2025-26 timetable, and ultimately four per day, running every 4 hours between the capitals.
Currently there is one service per day linking Krakow, Warsaw and Vilnius. Work is underway to introduce two new connections to Vilnius: from the western border of Poland via Poznań and Warsaw, and from Suwałki.
The two operators have also agreed to optimise connections with other services at Warsaw, Kaunas in Lithuania, and Vilnius during the timetable planning process.
Ultimately, passengers should be able to purchase tickets with a seat reservation for any international trip between Poland and Lithuania including transfer to other domestic or international trains. In addition, it will be possible to purchase such tickets in a single transaction via the two operator’s websites or mobile applications.
The two partners have also set a minimum level of service quality. Passengers will have access to Wi-Fi, electrical outlets and air-conditioning along the route, as well as catering.
Rail Baltica
The improvements to the services linking Poland and Lithuania are being planned with a view to the eventual completion of the Rail Baltica project currently underway to build a high-speed line from Vilnius to Riga and Tallinn.
LTG Link and PKP Intercity have decided that by the end of this year they will prepare a common passenger transport model, taking into account the acquisition of rolling stock for Rail Baltica.
