Post #3929032

2026-07-19 07:19 UTC

I was originally hoping to catch the 10:29 service from Gdańsk Główny to Poznań Główny and onwards from there, but the entire train was booked out when I tried to get seats. That would have gotten me to Köln Hbf at 22:35 (DB Standard Time). So I ended up getting this 08:31 train, which was supposed to get me there at 20:12. Except that my ICE from Berlin to Köln was summarily cancelled, and one of the main advantages of getting up this early was annulled. My companion ended up getting an 07:54 train, so we got up at way-too-early o’clock to make sure we got to the station in time, and when I did, I realised that there was a Eurocity direct to Berlin (with bus from Frankfurt) I could have caught at 07:37. Sadly, I was unable to get a reservation for that train when I spotted it, so I'm making do with a very tight connection at Poznań.

Replies (1)

@moof@cupoftea.social 2026-07-19 07:28

The reservations process is annoying. The PKP Intercity app definitely needs an intervention by a UX team, it would randomly assign me seats that the seat map claimed were unvailable, it really doesn't cope well with spotty coverage, it didn't offer me first class reservations when it definitely had some, and for some reason it requires me to set an in-app PIN that doesn't seem to use use any standard iOS security features. For some of the reservations this trip, I ended up using the ČD app instead, that offered me seats that the PKP app insisted were unavailable. For the Poznań-Köln segment of this trip, I've used DB Navigator to make the reservation. It just seems like a lot of faff. Yes, the trains get full, and a reservation at least guarantees you a seat when it’s a standing room only train. But they could make it easier than it is.

Open ##3929031