RegioJet and LeoExpress announces expansion into Poland (Open access)

[Cloud Strife]

Again, I believe that no Leo Express passenger train will be picking up passengers at Polish station next Thursday (June 25, 2026).

I can confirm that Przemyśl isn't happening. The reason is because PKP Intercity submitted an application in March for an assessment of economic balance, which specifically looks at whether a given train will disrupt the existing trains on the route in terms of economic viability. It's the usual failure of anything rail related in Poland: if it threatens PKP Intercity in any way, then it must be stopped and destroyed, regardless if it's in the best interest of the people.

From what I understand, the train *will* start on the 25th, but on an shortened route: Bohumín-Ostrava-Prague-Dresden-Leipzig-Erfurt-Frankfurt.

 

[rvdborgt]

I can confirm that Przemyśl isn't happening. The reason is because PKP Intercity submitted an application in March for an assessment of economic balance, which specifically looks at whether a given train will disrupt the existing trains on the route in terms of economic viability.

Are PKP IC running any trains on that route as a PSO? Also international trains as a PSO?

 

[doc7austin]

It is now Tuesday, June 23 at 14:00.

- Leo Express still does sell tickets for Bohumin - Frankfurt Airport via Ostrava, Prague, Decin, Dresden, Leipzig, Weißenfels, Apolda.
- Leo Express does NOT sell tickets for the return route Frankfurt Airport - Bohumin.
- Daily operations should start in less than two days on June 25, 2026.
- Tickets for Przemysl-Frankfurt Airport are still live on leoexpress.com. Affected passengers have not been notified about the cancellation.
- The train LE 232 Bohumin-Frankfurt Airport is not shown in any national timetable database (neither in PL, e.g. portalpasazera.pl, CZ, e.g. spravazeleznic.cz, or DE, e.g. bahn.expert)
- A heatwave is having Central Europe in its grips. I would be afraid sitting for longer time inside of DB IC1 cars.

My assumption:
A: Passengers with tickets from Poland are going to strand 100%.
B: Passengers with tickets from Czechia and Germany are going to strand 67%.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 24 Jun 2026 ==

From Przemysl it's a bus

https://www.leoexpress.com/en/about-us/for-media/leo-express-is-launching-a-new-line-frankfurt-prague-przemys

The link shows the press release of the new train and highlights that the Przemysl-Bohumin is substituted by a bus.

 

[Mirjamsterdam]

It is now Tuesday, June 23 at 14:00.

- Leo Express still does sell tickets for Bohumin - Frankfurt Airport via Ostrava, Prague, Decin, Dresden, Leipzig, Weißenfels, Apolda.
- Leo Express does NOT sell tickets for the return route Frankfurt Airport - Bohumin.
- Daily operations should start in less than two days on June 25, 2026.
- Tickets for Przemysl-Frankfurt Airport are still live on leoexpress.com. Affected passengers have not been notified about the cancellation.
- The train LE 232 Bohumin-Frankfurt Airport is not shown in any national timetable database (neither in PL, e.g. portalpasazera.pl, CZ, e.g. spravazeleznic.cz, or DE, e.g. bahn.expert)
- A heatwave is having Central Europe in its grips. I would be afraid sitting for longer time inside of DB IC1 cars.

My assumption:
A: Passengers with tickets from Poland are going to strand 100%.
B: Passengers with tickets from Czechia and Germany are going to strand 67%.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 24 Jun 2026 ==

From Przemysl it's a bus

https://www.leoexpress.com/en/about-us/for-media/leo-express-is-launching-a-new-line-frankfurt-prague-przemys

The link shows the press release of the new train and highlights that the Przemysl-Bohumin is substituted by a bus.

And they've had to change the timetables, which may explain why they weren't selling tickets in the other direction. They're selling them now. The turnaround in Frankfurt Airport is now a bit over 6 hours which is more realistic, but does mean that it's now an overnight trip in both directions...

 

[doc7austin]

The worst part: The Polish segment is operated by a bus.

 

[Fragezeichnen]

Until mid-July there are major building works on the Erfurt - Fulda line, much of it is single track so most long distance services are not running at all, and late at night there are sometimes only buses.

So this seems to be a temporary timetable running via Kassel and avoiding that part completely.

 

[Cloud Strife]

The worst part: The Polish segment is operated by a bus.

Which makes Poland look like it's stuck in the dark ages when it comes to the railways.

Then again, the antics of PKP Intercity and the communist mentality of PolRegio are both very much from the dark ages.

 

[Farigiraf]

Which makes Poland look like it's stuck in the dark ages when it comes to the railways.

Then again, the antics of PKP Intercity and the communist mentality of PolRegio are both very much from the dark ages.

I can't comment on the current behaviour of PKP - it does seem rather backwards, but then again the money saved through cheap tickets via competition is often offset by the increased taxpayer cost to maintain unprofitable branch line operation, and domestic trains in Poland are already quite well used, so maybe the calculations have been done by PKP and they've decided that it may not actually be beneficial to the average Polish citizen to let OAOs in. Then again, they might also just want to keep a monopoly for other, more shallow reasons - who knows.

What I can say is that in the long term, there's a very sensible reason why unregulated open access won't have a place on the Polish rail network - that's because they appear to be working on a national Swiss-style integrated timetable. I would say that such a project will benefit passengers quite a lot more than the occasional dynamically priced cheap fare on Regiojet or Leo Express.

Not sure how far along it is, but it does seem serious - here's the website. The 4th EU rail package will still require routes to be open to competition - and the mainlines are planned to be run by companies with full revenue risk - so in theory if Leo and RJ are okay with accepting that their rail services won't be special trains, but instead just one part of a functioning 'network', then they'll still have the chance to make a lot of money.

 

[AdamWW]

Not sure how far along it is, but it does seem serious - here's the website. The 4th EU rail package will still require routes to be open to competition - and the mainlines are planned to be run by companies with full revenue risk - so in theory if Leo and RJ are okay with accepting that their rail services won't be special trains, but instead just one part of a functioning 'network', then they'll still have the chance to make a lot of money.

Would this involve integrated ticketing? Or just the timetable?

 

[NCT]

It's not the job of Intercity passengers to subsidise branch lines. Fiscal transfers should take place through transparent tax policies not hidden through state monopoly quasi-commercial charges. In other words, let me as a passenger and as a taxpayer make those decisions separately and be presented with transparent and separate pieces of information.

Open Access is not incompatible with integrated timetabling. It's particularly brazen of a state operator to complain about inability to implementing taktfahrplan when it showed no such initiative whatsoever pre liberalisation.

 

[Farigiraf]

Would this involve integrated ticketing? Or just the timetable?

I would expect them to follow the German model of simplifying local transport fares within the voivodeships while maintaining the rather unpredictable dynamic pricing on the competitively run routes. It's not perfect but it's probably the best you can get without major subsidy.

It's not the job of Intercity passengers to subsidise branch lines. Fiscal transfers should take place through transparent tax policies not hidden through state monopoly quasi-commercial charges. In other words, let me as a passenger and as a taxpayer make those decisions separately and be presented with transparent and separate pieces of information.

I understand where you're coming from, but as I'm sure you're aware, quite a significant proportion of the voting population prefers a bare-minimum tax policy, for the better or worse. If you were a politician, what would be easier: keep things as they are and be hostile to open access, or attempt to raise taxes to pay for the upkeep of regional rail (when already most of your voters don't take the regional trains anyway, they drive)?
I'm not greatly invested in the Polish political scene but I can't imagine it's that different to the UK situation in that respect.

Open Access is not incompatible with integrated timetabling. It's particularly brazen of a state operator to complain about inability to implementing taktfahrplan when it showed no such initiative whatsoever pre liberalisation.

I'm all in favour of as many countries as possible making progress on an integrated timetable post-4th rail package, even if it looks petty. By 'zero day' in 2033 you've either got some sort of co-ordination established, or you're left with a French-style wild west of rail operations - past that point, changing things becomes tricky as you have to convince all the operators already running to work together with you. There are a few success stories where OAOs do work quite well within the integrated timetable - e.g. WESTBahn has predictable frequencies and accepts most transport passes.

But for each of these success stories, there's 2 or 3 examples of the OAO coming in as a battering ram, complicating the timetable unnecessarily and running their own unique unintegrated fares system. For example, Lumo accepting some rovers but not others. Or Ouigo not taking Interrail passes despite running up to half the trains on a certain line. Or RegioJet accepting the Czech OneTicket, the Austrian Klimaticket, but not the Hungarian Country Pass. There are certainly valid reasons for all of these (in some cases a result of a poor decision from the state not the OAO), but from a passenger's perspective it's unnecessarily complex.

 

[NCT]

I would expect them to follow the German model of simplifying local transport fares within the voivodeships while maintaining the rather unpredictable dynamic pricing on the competitively run routes. It's not perfect but it's probably the best you can get without major subsidy.

I understand where you're coming from, but as I'm sure you're aware, quite a significant proportion of the voting population prefers a bare-minimum tax policy, for the better or worse. If you were a politician, what would be easier: keep things as they are and be hostile to open access, or attempt to raise taxes to pay for the upkeep of regional rail (when already most of your voters don't take the regional trains anyway, they drive)?
I'm not greatly invested in the Polish political scene but I can't imagine it's that different to the UK situation in that respect.

It's the politicians' job to do what is right, not what is easy.

I'm all in favour of as many countries as possible making progress on an integrated timetable post-4th rail package, even if it looks petty. By 'zero day' in 2033 you've either got some sort of co-ordination established, or you're left with a French-style wild west of rail operations - past that point, changing things becomes tricky as you have to convince all the operators already running to work together with you. There are a few success stories where OAOs do work quite well within the integrated timetable - e.g. WESTBahn has predictable frequencies and accepts most transport passes.

But for each of these success stories, there's 2 or 3 examples of the OAO coming in as a battering ram, complicating the timetable unnecessarily and running their own unique unintegrated fares system. For example, Lumo accepting some rovers but not others. Or Ouigo not taking Interrail passes despite running up to half the trains on a certain line. Or RegioJet accepting the Czech OneTicket, the Austrian Klimaticket, but not the Hungarian Country Pass. There are certainly valid reasons for all of these, but from a passenger's perspective it's unnecessarily complex.

Without the 4th package you'd have stuck with Renfe, SNCF, Trenitalia and PKP running low frequency uncoordinated and un-clockface timetables forever.

 

[Farigiraf]

It's the politicians' job to do what is right, not what is easy.

Of course it is, but it's also idealistic to believe that every politician is expected to go over and above in every sector. I'm always happy to see politicians giving rail more attention than is typical, but in most cases when they aren't, there's usually something equally important worthy of that attention (though how usually that is depends on the party). Rail/transport ministers are the closest you can get to people who can devote time to these things, but they can't exactly influence taxation policy.

Without the 4th package you'd have stuck with Renfe, SNCF, Trenitalia and PKP running low frequency uncoordinated and un-clockface timetables forever.

And in Renfe, SNCF and Trenitalia's case, nothing appears to be changing, it's just that the profitable lines have become a lot cheaper (but more complicated). Fixing local transport and properly integrating it with long-distance transport is a political decision, which will or won't be made regardless of the 4th rail package in most cases. The 4th rail package has encouraged one or two countries along, while complicating the situation of a few others.

 

[U-Bahnfreund]

I can't comment on the current behaviour of PKP - it does seem rather backwards, but then again the money saved through cheap tickets via competition is often offset by the increased taxpayer cost to maintain unprofitable branch line operation, and domestic trains in Poland are already quite well used, so maybe the calculations have been done by PKP and they've decided that it may not actually be beneficial to the average Polish citizen to let OAOs in. Then again, they might also just want to keep a monopoly for other, more shallow reasons - who knows.

That's not for PKP to just decide, though (who even, PKP PKL or PKP Intercity?)

 

[NCT]

Of course it is, but it's also idealistic to believe that every politician is expected to go over and above in every sector. I'm always happy to see politicians giving rail more attention than is typical, but in most cases when they aren't, there's usually something equally important worthy of that attention (though how usually that is depends on the party). Rail/transport ministers are the closest you can get to people who can devote time to these things, but they can't exactly influence taxation policy.

We already have too many sacred cows in a web of hidden protections. As a result our tax codes and statute book are a right mess. It's causing decision paralysis. We need to take a hit and allow the sacredness of all those cows to be debated and re-evaluated in the open. At some point we'll have to confront closure / higher tax / higher fares decisions.

And in Renfe, SNCF and Trenitalia's case, nothing appears to be changing, it's just that the profitable lines have become a lot cheaper (but more complicated). Fixing local transport and properly integrating it with long-distance transport is a political decision, which will or won't be made regardless of the 4th rail package in most cases. The 4th rail package has encouraged one or two countries along, while complicating the situation of a few others.

France has benefited enormously from liberalisation. The inter-city LGV lines are where the majority of French people live and where the majority of French GDP are generated. We have this bizarre attitude that people in cities don't count - that somehow London and Manchester travellers don't matter and the railway only serves its purpose if it serves that one man and his dog in Alnabreac.

France's regional trains are seeing massive improvement since decision making has transferred from unaccountable SNCF's contractionary drift to PSO authorities' period, active and expansionary decision making. We saw the reserve happen when commercial franchises got replaced by EMAs and ERMAs.

 

[Robski]

Leo Express has submitted open access applications for the following routes:
Warszawa <-> Gdynia
Warszawa <-> Zakopane via Zawiercie
Warszawa <-> Kraków via Kielce
Wrocław <-> Przemyśl
Warszawa <-> Wrocław via Łódź
Gdynia <-> Łódź
Lublin <-> Poznań

All routes to begin operating from December 2027 using Vectrons + 5-10 carriages.

src: https://x.com/kuracyja/status/2076947059857400013
translated:

NEW SUBMISSION ALERT

This time, notifications for national routes were submitted by @leoexpress:
Warsaw-Gdynia
Warsaw-Zakopane via Zawiercie,
Warsaw-Kraków via Kielce
Wrocław-Przemyśl,
Warsaw-Wrocław via Łódź,
Gdynia-Łódź,
Lublin-Poznań

Vectron operation, 5-10 wagons

Powiadomienia Leo Express s.r.o. o planowanych nowych krajowych usługach pasażerskich

10 czerwca 2026 r. do Urzędu Transportu Kolejowego wpłynęło 7 powiadomień Leo Express s.r.o. [1] w sprawie uruchomienia pasażerskich połączeń komercyjnych na trasach krajowych:

utk.gov.pl

translated:

Notifications from Leo Express s.r.o. regarding planned new domestic passenger services
13 July 2026
On 10 June 2026, the Office of Rail Transport [UTK] received seven notifications from Leo Express s.r.o. regarding the launch of commercial passenger services on the following domestic routes:
Gdynia Główna – Warszawa Zachodnia – Gdynia Główna;
Warszawa Wschodnia – Zakopane – Warszawa Wschodnia;
Wrocław Główny – Przemyśl Główny – Wrocław Główny;
Warszawa Wschodnia – Kraków Główny – Warszawa Wschodnia;
Warszawa Wschodnia – Wrocław Główny – Warszawa Wschodnia;
Gdynia Główna – Łódź Fabryczna – Gdynia Główna;
Lublin Główny – Poznań Główny – Lublin Główny.

The applications submitted by Leo Express required the rectification of formal and substantive deficiencies. On 3 July 2026, Leo Express addressed these deficiencies, thereby meeting the legal requirements necessary for the publication of the public versions of the notifications regarding the launch of the new services.

The new passenger transport services are intended to operate daily from 12 December 2027 to 11 December 2032—covering the 2027/2028, 2028/2029, 2029/2030, 2030/2031, and 2031/2032 annual train timetables.

Details regarding the services are set out in the public versions of the notifications, available in the attachments below. Following the receipt of notifications from Leo Express regarding proposed new passenger rail services, the procedure set out in Regulation 2018/1795 was initiated.

Pursuant to Article 4(4) of Regulation 2018/1795, the regulatory body publishes the standard notification form submitted by the applicant on its website and, without undue delay—and no later than 10 days after receiving the completed notification form—notifies the following entities:

- any competent authority that has concluded a public service contract for passenger rail transport on that route or an alternative route within the meaning of Directive 2012/34/EU;

- any other interested competent authority entitled to restrict access under Article 11 of Directive 2012/34/EU;

- any railway undertaking operating services under a public service contract on the route of the new passenger rail services or on an alternative route.

As Leo Express has submitted all information required by the provisions of the Rail Transport Act and Regulation 2018/1795, the President of the Office of Rail Transport has published the content of the notifications concerning open access (granting of open access) on the Office's website.

The time limit for submitting requests to conduct an economic equilibrium test is one month; this period begins to run—individually in each case—from the moment the public version of the notification is served to the entitled entities. All information regarding notifications received from Leo Express—including any requests for an economic equilibrium test—must be submitted to the regulatory authority in electronic form.

 

[doc7austin]

Leo Express is now selling tickets for the entire route Przemysl-Frankfurt, starting from August 1, 2026. Also Couchette Car is offered.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 1 Aug 2026 ==

Leo Express inaugural train LE 235 Frankfurt - Przemysl at Tarnow station, Poland:

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 1 Aug 2026 ==

 

[F Great Eastern]

You'd think for an inaugural run they'd make sure the train was more presentable!

 

[doc7austin]

And the inaugural journey has already failed. DB InfraGO has closed the line around Bad Schandau near the Czech/German border.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 1 Aug 2026 ==

My advise: do not use Leo Express !
They are kicking out all passengers in the middle of night. incl. those booked in Couchette Sleeping Cars.

Leo Express has even failed to properly run the very first run from Przemysl to Frankfurt.