A new sleeper train is set to connect five European countries in one route for the first time, spanning an impressive 745 miles.
Starting in the Polish capital of Warsaw, the new link will run all the way to the Croatian city of Rijeka, known for its glistening beaches, waterfalls, and 13th-century castle.
It’ll pass through multiple cities along the way, including Opoczno, Katowice, Rybnik, Chałupki, Vienna, Ljubljana, Postojna, and Opatija.
At the moment, train travellers journeying from Warsaw to Rijeka can’t travel directly; instead, they currently need to swap services three times (in Breclav, Graz, and Zagreb), an arduous option that can end up taking more than 30 hours. Yawn.
It might still take 19 hours from door to door, rolling out of Warsaw at 2.00pm and calling at Rijeka at 9.00am the next day, but the new PKP Intercity service will shorten the journey drastically, shaving off more than a third of the current travel time.
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How much will the Warsaw-Rijeka sleeper train cost? And how often will it run?
Tickets will be relatively affordable, with prices starting around 200 Polish złoty (£39.53).
Interested? Services will be running four times a week during the summer months, operating on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.
The first is scheduled in just under a month’s time, departing Warsaw on Friday, June 27, while the final routes will take place at the end of August, leaving Warsaw on August 29 and Rijeka on August 31.
The path itself is guaranteed to be packed with breathtaking scenery, passing through the diverse landscapes of Poland, Czechia, Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia.
Though it doesn’t stop at any Czech destinations along the way, it’ll stop at Vienna at roughly 10.00pm, where a few carriages will diverge and head off directly to Croatia on a different route.
Reaching Slovenia just after midnight, the train will partner up with the Istria service – which starts in Budapest – and plod on towards Croatia just in time for breakfast.
All the stops on the Warsaw-Rijeka sleeper train
Warsaw, Poland
Opoczno, Poland
Katowice, Poland
Rybnik, Poland
Chałupki, Poland
Vienna, Austria
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Postojna, Slovenia
Opatija, Croatia
Rijeka, Croatia.
What facilities will be on offer on the Warsaw-Rijeka sleeper train?
Passengers will be able to travel in style too, as the carriages are fully air-conditioned, with couchette cars available with beds. Sheets will be fully provided, so you needn’t pack your sleeping bag.
Feeling peckish? There’ll be a dining car serving up hot food between Warsaw and Vienna, while passengers living it up in the couchette cars will have a Wars staff member on hand to assist them throughout their voyage.
Latest train news
This isn’t the only new train journey on the block. A service between Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok will be returning by the end of 2025, building on the existing infrastructure that once operated between the two cities and destinations including Padang Besar and Butterworth.
Malaysia’s transport minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook confirmed that the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTM) and the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) would be looking at plans over the next few months.
And closer to home, a new ‘Tube for Europe’ could completely revolutionise travel across the continent, connecting 39 stations, with at least one in every country along five main routes.
The proposals for the Starline service envisage that replacing short-haul flights with a high-speed rail network could slice emissions by a whopping 95%, while a total of 424 major cities will be connected to ports, airports and rail.
This article was originally published May 28, 2025.
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