Recenze

This is a long review, so if you decide to TL;DR it, you can always see the parameters above.

I travelled on the ED160, a Stadler Flirt EMU made for PKP Intercity on a journey from Gdańsk to Toruń (2 h 25 min) and decided to give it a review. I will only talk about coach 4, that is the 2nd class coach behind the bar coach.

Firstly, the seat is like any other seat in a loco-hauled Intercity train, and I enjoyed resting in it. If I had to choose between a slam-door coach on TLK, automatic door coach on the aformentioned loco-hauled Intercity and the Stadler Flirt, I would immediately pick the latter. Ergonomic headrest, generous padding and an overall comfortable experience. The legroom was limited, but only because I put my backpack in front of me. Without it, it's perfect for 167 cm of height! What else to give it other than a 10/10?

For the coach equipment, I will of course review coach numer 4, which is equipped with a few bike racks, which were the reason for the conductor to come in and tell a passenger that their bike has to be hooked to the rack. Otherwise, it's a mix of 2 by 2 airline and bay seating, and every passenger has access to an overhead luggage rack. I recently saw a review from a railway creator reviewing the Flirt and another EMU made for PKP Intercity, the ED160, also known as the Pesa Dart. In the Dart review, he complained that the overhead racks are made of metal bars with gaps, which is a problem in winter and during heavy rainfall, because of soaking wet luggage dripping water onto passengers. The Flirt doesn't have that problem, as the overhead racks are covered in glass, and that's a plus. The seatback table is large and sturdy, big enough to fit an A4 sheet of paper. Over the seats there are clear and visible reservation screens showing when the seat is reserved, in my case from Gdańsk to Toruń. It is a great since a lot of people travel on this train with an Interrail ticket or without a guarantee of seating. There are two screens, with one showing the first and last station, the number and name of the train, the coach number, the following stations and time of arrival, date, temperature and train speed, and the other showing the map and advertisements.
There are also coat hangers beside the seat and button-operated ones over the seatback table. A very comfy armrest, footrest, a storage net as well as two 230V AC plug sockets are provided for an airline-style seat for every passenger. As for entertainment, I can't forget about the "W podróż" train magazine, which is sometimes found as a paper version in the storage net, but I would recommend downloading it on the PKP Intercity website. They once had a text in English, but they got rid of them entirely, so you might need to study Polish or have it as your native language if you want to enjoy its contents. Polish is also the only language the announcements are provided in, but even without them, you can easily get around the train. I haven't reviewed the bar coach nearby, but I am 99.9% sure they have the menu in English, which is more limited than in higher-category trains. Still, I persuade you to visit it, since unbiasedly, WARS provides the best gastronomical service on trains in Europe.
Obviously, there's nothing wrong about the coach equipment, except for the lacking Wi-Fi, which is usually spotty on Polish trains, so it gets a 9/10.

The lighting doesn't need much of a review, but it's warm and not as blinding as people say the IETs in the UK are (I have to try them out one way). There is also a reading light by the window which can't be moved and is located very high, but I can't complain about the light causing complete blindness in passengers. The sunblinds don't completely blind the view like curtains do in loco-hauled trains, and they don't work. I checked. These sunblinds ironically don't blind the sun from entering the coach. It's better to have a Ryanair-style windowless seat if you don't like the sun and prefer not to watch the beautiful Polish landscape, which is a bit unusual (well, except for the Silesian coal mines). For these two tiny quirks, I give the lighting an 7/10.

The noise level is great, as the train barely makes any sound, except for decelerating. The deceleration sound reminded me of a noise playing from a speaker near high-speed track to repel wild animals, something like a sound of a pig. However, that was, as I remember correctly during rain and on a previous journey, so wet tracks might have been the problem. A similar thing has happened during my journey on the Newag Impuls. Now, the sound doesn't remind me of a squealing swine, but it exists, so a 9/10 it is.

Finally, the temperature. It was around 12-14°C on that day, and I was wearing a hoodie. It was definitely not freezing cold on the train, and they might have turned heating. It was a bit uncomfortable, even without the hoodie on. At least I could lean my arm on the cold unpadded side of the armrest, which gives the temperature a 7/10, and the overall review of the ED160, also known as the Stadler Flirt an 8,4/10.