The Izera Railway

The train to Harrachov in the Czech Republic stops at a station that was Polish until 1958. That year a border agreement gave Czechoslovakia the village of Tkacze, together with its station, a tunnel and the bridge over the Jizera. The last Polish stop on the line became the first Czech one, and it has been Harrachov's station ever since.

The Izera Railway, PKP line 311, climbs from Jelenia Góra through the Kamienna valley and Szklarska Poręba to the Szklarska Pass in the Jizera Mountains. Prussia opened the first section in 1891 and joined it to the Austrian line from Liberec on 1 October 1902. Polana Jakuszycka, near the top, is the highest passenger stop in Poland, 878 metres above the sea.

After 1945 the border cut the line, and no regular train crossed it for 65 years, until 28 August 2010. Today Koleje Dolnośląskie's electric units run from Jelenia Góra to Szklarska Poręba Górna, and Czech railcars take over there for Harrachov and Liberec.

From Jelenia Góra the electric train runs south-west up the valley of the Kamienna, through Cieplice, Sobieszów and Piechowice, with the ridge of the Karkonosze growing on the left. The steepest climb on the Polish side, between Piechowice and Górzyniec, is no more than 26 per thousand, so the line needs no rack. It reaches Szklarska Poręba Górna, a large timber-framed station under a rock face, in under an hour.

The wires end there, and so do the electric trains: for Harrachov you change to a Czech diesel railcar. Beyond the station the line crosses the Mała Kamienna on a steel truss bridge and climbs through spruce forest past Szklarska Poręba Huta to Polana Jakuszycka, beside the cross-country ski stadium at Jakuszyce. This is the highest passenger stop in Poland. In Prussian days Jakuszyce was the highest station in Prussia, and the line tops out just beyond at the Szklarska Pass, 886 metres.

The station Poland gave away

From the pass the line drops through forest to the border and to Harrachov. After the war the frontier followed the old Prussian–Austrian boundary, which left the village of Tkacze, its station, a 280-metre tunnel and the high bridge over the Jizera on the Polish side. A border agreement of 1958 traded them to Czechoslovakia for land of the same size elsewhere. Tkacze became Mýtiny, now part of Harrachov, and the former Polish terminus became the end of the Czech line from Tanvald, giving Harrachov its railway.

From Harrachov the railcars continue over the Jizera bridge to Kořenov and down a gradient of 58 per thousand to Tanvald, and on to Liberec.

Wires, then none

Prussia finished electrifying the whole line on 15 February 1923, and in 1926 the ET 89 railcars, built in Breslau for this route, began running in pairs with coaches between them. In 1945 the Soviet Union took the Sudeten electric system as war booty. The catenary between Jelenia Góra and Szklarska Poręba escaped the three weeks of dismantling, but Poland's transport ministry took it down for use elsewhere. Electric trains returned to Szklarska Poręba Górna on 30 September 1987.

The cross-border section lay unused until a rebuilding that began on 8 May 2009. It reopened in July 2010, at first only as far as Jakuszyce, and from 28 August trains ran through to Harrachov.

The trains

Between Jelenia Góra and Szklarska Poręba Górna, Koleje Dolnośląskie runs electric units, including Newag Impuls three-car sets, and PKP Intercity runs long-distance trains such as the TLK Karkonosze through to Szklarska Poręba Górna. Over the pass the work belongs to České dráhy's class 840, Stadler Regio-Shuttle diesel railcars, running jointly with Koleje Dolnośląskie as line D61.

The journey takes two trains. Koleje Dolnośląskie's electric trains run from Jelenia Góra to Szklarska Poręba Górna. From there line D61, run jointly by Koleje Dolnośląskie and České dráhy, crosses the border to Harrachov in 25 minutes and continues to Liberec. Seats are not reserved.

25 October to 12 December 2026, every day

The Szklarska Poręba Górna times are the D61 departures and arrivals. On Saturdays and Sundays two more D61 trains leave Szklarska Poręba Górna at 13:30 and 16:30, and Liberec at 11:35 and 14:35. Between Jelenia Góra and Szklarska Poręba Górna, trains run roughly every one to two hours. The next timetable starts on 13 December 2026.

As of November 2026, from Koleje Dolnośląskie's D61 timetable (opens in a new tab) and the connections KOLEO lists for 18 and 21 November 2026.

One ticket covers both trains. A single from Jelenia Góra to Harrachov costs 20 zł and to Liberec 32 zł under the joint Polish–Czech tariff, and a return costs twice the single. Seats are not reserved.

From Szklarska Poręba Górna the single to Harrachov is 14 zł and to Liberec 26 zł. Fares from KOLEO for travel on 18 November 2026, as of November 2026.

Interrail and Eurail passes are valid on both trains, with no reservation needed. Interrail's table of railway companies covers Koleje Dolnośląskie's regional (Os) and semi-fast (OsP) trains, and České dráhy's regional trains with an optional reservation. A Poland Pass is valid only on the Polish side, so for Harrachov and Liberec you need a Global Pass or a ticket for the Czech part.

For this trip alone a pass is not worth buying: the single fare from Jelenia Góra to Liberec is 32 zł. It pays only when the line is one leg of a longer journey through Poland and the Czech Republic.

Checked November 2026 against Interrail's table of railway companies (opens in a new tab), last updated 21 October 2026.

The line runs along the edge of two national parks, and most of what is worth seeing is a short walk from a station: a castle above Sobieszów and three waterfalls.

Szklarska Poręba is the natural base, with the most rooms and trains in both directions. Jakuszyce, at the top of the line, suits skiers and cyclists.

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