New category Express InterCity Premium train comfort for each passenger

On 28 May 2013, PKP Intercity and Alstom presented the new look, colour range, and name of the trains manufactured in Savigliano, Italy. Starting from December 2014, 20 Express InterCity Premium (EIC Premium) train units will shuttle regularly in Poland.
Express InterCity Premium (EIC Premium) is the most comfortable category of trains offered by PKP Intercity to its passengers. The others  are Express InterCity (EIC) and Twoje Linie Kolejowe (TLK).
We standarize the  service level following the best examples, so that our passengers will travel by trains on the European level. We present you a vision that becomes a reality next year. The vision that will restore the competitiveness of rail transport in Poland said Jakub Karnowski, PKP Intercity President.

Category Express InterCity Premium is a new quality on Polish tracks. The train will be suited to the needs of various passenger groups families with children, businessmen, cyclists and persons with reduced physical capacity. Everyone will be able to travel the preferred way! said Janusz Malinowski, PKP Intercity S.A. President, during the presentation.

We are proud to participate in upgrading the Polish transport industry. Trains by Alstom intended for Poland bring not only high-end technology, comfort, and safety, but also facilities for passengers and a shorter travel time it is a new dimension and standard of travelling in Poland. This is an outcome of Alstoms 30-year experience in manufacturing Pendolino high speed trains modern solutions and technologies delivered to clients worldwide. The trains for Polish passengers are produced in Savigliano, Alstoms rolling stock manufacturing site in Italy, which is the competence centre in the field of Pendolino family high speed trains manufacturing. The new train for PKP Intercity also means jobs for 140 persons to be employed in Grochów Depot where the trains will undergo maintenance for 17 years said Lesaw Kuzaj, Alstom Poland President.

Express InterCity Premium for everyone

Express InterCity Premium is a 7-unit self-propelled train. Train length is 187.4 m and the maximum operating speed is 250 km/h. EIC Premium will offer 3 classes: business, first, and second. They will offer seats for 12, 45, and 345 persons, respectively, which gives a total of 402 seats. The seats in all classes will be recliners; each seat will be equipped with individual lighting and an electric socket. Special luggage racks and bicycle hangers will be installed in corridors and at the end of each carriage.

EIC Premium will have a dining section with 20 standing places to buy hot and cold snacks and soft drinks in. Meals will also be served to compartments.

The stat-of-the-art rolling stock will offer high level of travel comfort to persons with reduced physical capacity. The carriage doors in carriage No. 3 will have lifts installed to make it easier for persons on wheelchairs to get on and off the train. The carriage will also have two places and a toilet adjusted for handicapped people. This location was chosen on purpose. Carriage No. 3 will also contain a dining compartment and the train crew rooms.

Furthermore, EIC Premium will offer facilities for blind and partially-sighted persons. The seats in compartment will be marked with Braille and the next station information will be announced via a sound system.

Solutions aimed to increase travel comfort

Each carriage will be equipped with two heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning modules to ensure thermal comfort for passengers.

New solutions, such as carriage frame soundproofing and vibration absorbers, will help reduce noise level inside the train. Special roof structure will additionally reduce the sounds coming from the outside through the ceiling.

EIC Premium was designed to ensure high level of safety to its passengers. The aerodynamic nose of the train will be equipped with especially designed components absorbing impact energy in case of a crash. The train will have a system of cameras connected to digital video recorders. The monitoring screen installed in the train manager compartment will enable crew members to view camera image and respond immediately, if necessary. Each seat will be equipped with an alarm intercom to notify and call the train attendant team members.

Modern design

EIC Premium will be characterised by modern design. The author of the train graphics, colour range, and interior is maradDesign company headed by professor Marek Adamczewski which worked in collaboration with Design Studio Alstom. The aerodynamic nose was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, an Italian car designer and a co-founder of Italdesign-Giugiaro S.p.A.

Each class, corridor area, dining area, has its own colour range; however, they all maintained in a uniform and well-matched colour range. The material choice was based not only on such obvious functional properties as durability and easy cleaning; the fabric is also to emphasise the warmth and cosiness of the interior said professor Marek Adamczewski from maradDesign.

EIC Premium on Polish tracks

Before the train comes to Poland, it will be accepted at Alstom site in Savigliano where components will be tested in manufacturing conditions. The next stage includes tests conducted on the test truck in migród near Wrocaw and subsequently on the railway lines where the train is to shuttle.

PKP Intercity personnel will undergo specialist training in train operation. In the first stage, Alstom will train 20 train drivers and 20 train crew members. First training sessions already began earlier this year. The next stage will take place after the trains arrive in Poland for testing.

Routes and travel time

EIC Premium will connect northern and southern Poland, going between the Tricity, Warsaw, Cracow, and Katowice. The railway operator also plans to add other destinations: Wrocaw, Rzeszów and Bielsko-Biaa.

Improved travel comfort for passengers includes shorter travel time which is possible thanks to progress in infrastructure upgrading of main rail routes.