After a gap of more than six months while its one working main-line loco underwent an extensive overhaul, scheduled steam action resumed at Wolsztyn in Western Poland on Monday, 9 March 2026, when a weekday Wolsztyn-Zbaszynek round trip resumed, with the Saturdays-only Wolsztyn-Poznan service beginning two days earlier, on 7 March.
This follows a complete overhaul of Wolsztyn depot’s main line locomotive, Mikado (2-8-2) Pt47-65, which remains its only working big loco until the long-awaited return of another of its main line fleet, Ol49-69 (2-6-2), whose new boiler was completed last month (February 2026).
The 2026 steam schedule sees a weekday departure from Wolsztyn at 14.28 which operates tender-first and reaches the important interchange station of Zbaszynek at 15.07, returning from there half an hour later at 15.37 and reaching Wolsztyn at 16.23.
Travelling on the 14.28 steam departure from Wolsztyn for three consecutive days in the second week of its 2026 operation (18-20 March) and it was good to see a decent and growing level of custom. On 18 March I counted 29 passengers aboard, virtually all being students returning home from college in Wolsztyn and no enthusiasts or tourists, apart from me.
That was broadly the picture on the following day (19 March) although there were a few joy riders in the mix this time. But things were a good deal busier on Friday (20 March) when I counted a total of 50 passengers on departure, and a fair sprinkling of Polish leisure travellers (no sign of any international visitors) in addition to the students and shoppers returning home.
Zbaszynek enjoys regular calls by Berlin-Warsaw expresses, but connections into and out of the weekday steam service remain poor. Anyone from Berlin wanting the steam service would need to take EC47 from Berlin Hbf (11.52) which gets to Zbaszynek at 13.50, almost two hours before the steam departure, with the following EC49 arriving at 15.50, just 13 minutes after the steam departure.
Given the lack of an onward connection towards Leszno for the steam service when it arrives in Wolsztyn at 16.23, it would surely make sense to put back its departure time from Zbaszynek by around 20 minutes, in order the provide a decent connection out of EC49 from Berlin and encourage more rail borne visitors to travel by train to Wolsztyn.
On the 80km (50-mile) route to Poznan, the Saturday steam service – chimney first on its outward journey – departs Wolsztyn at 10.46 and reaches Poznan Glowny at 12.50, where there is a three-hour interlude before its tender-first return departure at 15.44 and an arrival into Wolsztyn at 17.41.
Having suffered a serious tourism crisis since the demise of the Wolsztyn Experience and its renowned foot-plating courses in mid-2023, there are some encouraging signs that the steam depot management is making efforts to foster interest in its unique status.
While the main line service has been suspended there have been a number of short special steam workings from the depot by its 0-6-0 tank engine (TKh05353) and part of a former line to Konotop and Nowa Sol is being restored as far as an intermediate station (Swietno) for use as a museum line.
Wolsztyn is a charming place to spend a few days, with cultural attractions such as the Robert Koch museum and the open-air museum of folk architecture, an attractive town centre with a handful of excellent restaurants and two large and attractive lakes to walk or cycle around.
It is a bit frustrating having to wait until afternoon for any steam action, but the depot railway museum is well worth a visit, and a chance to see Pt46-65 being prepared for service, with other ways to spend the morning, as I did, being to take railcar rides to the re-opened station and terminus at Powodowo (pictured below) and to the pleasant lakeside resort of Boskowo, just 35 minutes’ away.
As I wrote last year, Polish train fares are cheap by UK standards and, with the over 60s getting an automatic 25% discount on all services operated by regional operator Koleje Wielkopolskie (KW), a senior single ticket for the 28km (17½-mile) steam trip from Wolsztyn to Zbaszynek costs a paltry PLN9.52 (£1.95).
Having stayed on recent visits at the Hotel Kaukaska I was tempted by a cheaper alternative this time and went instead to the comfortable Hotel Sportowy, an easy 8-minute walk north from the station, following a path alongside the railway to an over-bridge near two semaphore signals controlling access to Wolsztyn station. My room-only deal cost PLN119 (£24.00) a night, with a decent breakfast available in the hotel restaurant, but sadly no beer in the evening.
For all local rail timetables, go to http://www.koleje-wielkopolskie.com.pl where you will find PDF line timetables (Rozklad Jazdy) but it has no English version, so for buying tickets for local journeys I use an excellent Polish site http://www.Koleo.pl which can be programmed in English and sells tickets for all Polish operators, including KW. For regular updates on steam activity at Wolsztyn, go to http://www.parowozy.com.pl
RailwayWorld.net 
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