New train route from Poland to Germany via Czech Republic to become one of Europe’s longest

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Czech rail operator Leo Express will next month launch a new train route from Poland to Germany via the Czech Republic that will be one of the longest rail services in Europe, spanning more than 1,300 km (800 miles).

The daily service, due to begin on 25 June 2026, will run between the eastern Polish city of Przemyśl, near the Ukrainian border, and Frankfurt in Germany, stopping along the way at major cities including Kraków, Prague, Leipzig and Dresden. The journey will take around 18 hours.

“Leo Express is breaking down the symbolic rail barrier between eastern and western Europe and connecting key European centres with the gateway to Ukraine via a direct route that has been lacking until now,” said Leo Express CEO Peter Köhler when first announcing the plans in December.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Poland has become the primary hub for people travelling in and out of the war-torn country. Przemyśl, just over 10 km from the Ukrainian border, is a key stop-off point.

A map of Leo Express’s new route (source: press materials)

Köhler also says that the route will be “one of the longest direct rail connections in Europe”.

Among currently operating longer routes are the Optima Express, which runs for 1,600 km between Villach in Austria and Edirne in Turkey, and a 1,720 km journey from Malmö in Sweden to Innsbruck in Austria. Unlike the new Przemyśl-Frankfurt route, however, those other services do not run daily.

Under the published timetable, trains will depart Przemyśl will at 1.31 p.m. and arrive the following day at Frankfurt Airport at 7.53 a.m. Services in the opposite direction are scheduled to leave Frankfurt at 8.27 a.m. and reach Przemyśl at 2.23 a.m. the next day.

Leo Express said timetables could be adjusted periodically due to track maintenance, particularly on German sections of the route. Passengers will have access to Wi-Fi, power sockets, air conditioning and on-board catering, the company said.

Rail travel in Poland has grown rapidly in recent years, with passenger numbers reaching record levels. To meet rising demand, Polish long-distance public rail operator PKP Intercity has been expanding its timetable and adding new destinations, including international routes.

Last year, the operator launched its first direct train service from Poland to Croatia. It also offers connections to six other European countries: Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania and Austria.

In March this year, one of PKP’s Pendolino high-speed trains began running in the Czech Republic for the first time in preparation for a planned route between Prague and Warsaw.

Foreign operators have also sought to capitalise on the boom in rail travel in Poland. As well as Leo Express, another private Czech operator, RegioJet, last year entered the Polish domestic market, offering routes between major cities.

However, in April this year, just months after launching its services, RegioJet unexpectedly announced that it was quitting the Polish domestic market, claiming “predatory” practices by state-owned rival PKP.

In March, PKP Intercity submitted a request to Poland’s Office of Rail Transport (UTK), a regulator, for an official review into whether the launch of Leo Express’ new Przemyśl-Frankfurt route could undermine the “economic equilibrium” of services operated under public service contracts in Poland.

In an interview with rail news service Rynek Kolejowy, PKP Intercity’s CEO Janusz Malinowski said the move was prompted by the allocation of train paths to other carriers “just four minutes before the departure of our trains”.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Leo Express (press materials)

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is deputy editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She has written for Clean Energy Wire and The Times, and she hosts her own podcast, The Warsaw Wire, on Poland’s economy and energy sector. She previously worked for Reuters.