page_title: Pendolino
section_title: Poland
hierarchical_section_title: Pendolino / Current use / Poland
caption_attribution_description: Polski: ED250-010 "Pendolino" na dworcu w Krakowie
context_page_description: Pendolino is an Italian family of tilting trains used in Italy, Spain, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the UK, Switzerland and China. Based on the design of the Italian ETR 401 and the British Advanced Passenger Train, it was further developed and manufactured by Fiat Ferroviaria, which was taken over by Alstom in 2000.
  The idea of a tilting train became popular in the 1960s and 1970s when various rail operators, impressed by the high-speed rail services being introduced in France and Japan, wondered how they could similarly speed up travel without building a dedicated parallel rail network. By tilting, the train could go around curves designed for slower trains at higher speeds without causing undue discomfort to passengers.
context_section_description: Polish state railways PKP ordered 14 Pendolinos in 1998, but the order was cancelled in 2000 due to a shortage of funds.
  In 2010 Alstom won a PKP Intercity tender for high-speed trains with an offer of 20 New Pendolino trains. Similarly to the CRH5, these are non-tilting. Like the ČD class 680, the Pendolinos are equipped to operate on 15 kV 16·7 Hz and 25 kV 50 Hz as well as 3 kV DC for operation in Poland, and have the train control systems needed to operate in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. However, certification for international operation is not seen as a priority, as the trains are restricted to domestic services for an initial 10 years under the terms of a grant from the EU Cohesion Fund which covered 22% of the project cost.
  On 30 May 2011 the Polish state railways PKP signed an agreement with Alstom for 20 Pendolinos ETR 610 for delivery in 2014. The first Pendolino was delivered on August 12, 2013. Each seven-car Class ED250 trainset has seats for 57 first class and 345 second class passengers, with a buffet/bar and three four-seat business or family compartments. The Pendolinos were to operate on the high-speed CMK Central Rail Line from Kraków/Katowice to Warsaw, and on the routes from Gdynia to Warsaw and from Wrocław to Warsaw.
  High speed tests using the new Pendolino ED250 on the CMK Central Rail Line began in November 2013. On the first day of tests, November 16, the Pendolino reached 242 km/h (150 mph). On 17 November 2013 a new speed record for Polish railways was set at km 184.000 of Polish Line No. 4 when Pendolino ED250 reached a speed of 291 km/h (181 mph), breaking the 19-year record of 250.1 km/h (155 mph). On 24 November 2013 the final day of tests on the CMK Central Rail Line the Pendolino reached 293 km/h (182 mph).
  The contract between the Polish operator PKP Intercity and Alstom called for the first eight Pendolino ED250 trainsets to be delivered on 6 May 2014, tested ('homologated') for operation at 250 km/h (155 mph) using European Train Control System Level 2 signalling. The tests had not been performed by May, and PKP announced that Alstom had failed to meet the contract terms and would be charged penalties as of May 6. Alstom responded that homologation in Poland at 250 km/h using ETCS Level 2 was impossible, since ETCS Level 2 was not operational anywhere in Poland, and the Central Rail Line (Poland) where the first ED250 Pendolino had reached 293 km/h in testing was equipped with ETCS Level 1, not Level 2. On 26 June 2014 a compromise was reached between PKP and Alstom under which the Pendolinos would be delivered under a two-stage homologation, first homologated for operation using ETCS Level 1 and eventually to be homologated for ETCS Level 2. The Pendolinos were put in service on 14 December 2014.
  In addition to the Central Rail Line from Warsaw to Kraków and Katowice, and from Warsaw to Wrocław, the Pendolinos also operate on the 350 km (221 miles) route from Warsaw to Gdańsk and Gdynia on the Baltic Sea. In 2011-2015 the Warsaw-Gdańsk-Gdynia route underwent a major upgrading costing $3 billion, partly funded by the European Investment Bank, including track replacement, realignment of curves and relocation of sections of track to allow speeds up to 200 km/h (124 mph), and modernization of stations. Installation of European Train Control System Level 2 was under way in 2016. When Pendolino services started on 14 December 2014 the previous Warsaw–Gdańsk rail travel time of 4-1/2 to 6 hours was reduced to 2 hours 58 minutes by Pendolino, and reduced further to 2 hours 39 minutes  in December 2015.
  Introduction of the fast, modern Pendolinos in December 2014 had a major effect on rail ridership in Poland. In the first five months of 2015, Warsaw–Kraków rail ridership rose by 50 percent. In May 2015 alone,  Warsaw–Kraków ridership was 70 percent higher than a year earlier.
  In October 2018 Pendolinos operating in Poland still have no access to wireless internet. Thus, as not all of the telecom operators cover 100% of area with 4G support it makes it quite troublesome to do any 
caption: A PKP Intercity ED250 in Kraków Główny railway station, Poland
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