Key takeaways
- The EN57 is the classic of Polish local services: a three-car electric multiple unit from the Pafawag works in Wrocław.
- Fastest way to recognise it: three cars, pantographs only in the middle, designation starting with EN.
- The code explains the vehicle: E for electric, N for railcar – PKP's system reads directly off the designation.
- Refurbishments are the real challenge – letters added after the 57 stand for appearances that can be completely different.
- Deployment areas change with regional contract awards and vehicle procurement – always check the current situation.
Contents
Fact file
| Vehicle type | Electric local multiple unit (electric train unit) |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Pafawag, Wrocław (Poland) |
| Formation | Three-car: driving trailer – motor car – driving trailer |
| Electrification system | 3 kV DC (standard across the Polish network) |
| Designation | E = electric, N = railcar, 57 = class number in the PKP system |
| Typical use | Regional and suburban services on electrified lines |
| Notable feature | Numerous refurbishment variants with added letters |
Identifying features
Is this really the class in front of you?
- Three-car train: two driving trailers with a motor car carrying the pantographs in between
- Pantographs sit exclusively on the middle car
- Boxy, tall car bodies with a high-set floor – not a low-floor vehicle
- Designation EN57 on the vehicle, often with added refurbishment letters
- Setting: Polish local-service platforms, overhead line at 3 kV DC
- Wide range of liveries depending on the customer and refurbishment status
Updated: August 2026 – Anyone standing on a regional platform in Poland will sooner or later see a three-car, boxy electric multiple unit pull in, its pantographs sitting only on the middle car: that’s the PKP EN57. This page shows you how to recognise it, what its designation tells you, and why the refurbishment variants of all things turn out to be the most interesting chapter.
Spotted an EN57? Note the variant too.
With this vehicle, the letter after the 57 is where the real information sits – capture it on the spot.
What is the PKP EN57?
The EN57 is a three-car electric local multiple unit, built by the Pafawag works in Wrocław. It consists of two driving trailers with a motor car slotted in between, and runs under the 3 kV DC system used across Poland, which PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe maintains throughout the network. Built in large numbers over three decades, it became the most-built electric multiple unit in the country.
Operationally, it’s clearly categorised: regional and suburban services on electrified lines. It’s not a long-distance vehicle and not a freight vehicle – in Poland, classes such as the PKP EP09 handle express services, and the PKP ET22 hauls freight trains instead. Colloquially, the EN57 has also earned a fixed nickname: “Kibel” is established in Polish usage and you’ll regularly come across it in forums and sighting reports.
The Polish designation system, explained through one example
Hardly any vehicle is as well suited to learning the system of the Polskie Koleje Państwowe as the EN57. The designation isn’t an arbitrary number but describes the vehicle.
| Component | Meaning | Further examples |
|---|---|---|
| First letter | Traction type: E = electric, S = diesel | EU07, ST44 |
| Second letter | Use: N = railcar | EN71, EN76 |
| Second letter (further) | U universal, T freight, P passenger train, M shunting | EU07, ET22, EP09, SM42 |
| Digit block | Running class number | 57, 71, 07, 22 |
| Letters after it | Refurbishment or fit-out variant | EN57 with added letters |
Once you’ve internalised this scheme, you can already tell what you’re dealing with for almost any Polish railway vehicle just from the designation. For the internationally standardised vehicle number, which also appears on the vehicle alongside it, the article on reading the UIC number and its check digit helps – the Polish country code in it is 51.
How to identify an EN57 in the field
Count the cars
Three car bodies with a continuous gangway. A four-car unit points more towards the related EN71.
Locate the pantographs
On the EN57 they sit exclusively on the middle car. If two cars in the train carry pantographs, it's not a single EN57.
Check the entrance
Steps and a high floor confirm the classic build. A step-free entrance rules out the EN57 and points to modern multiple units instead.
Read the lettering
The full designation with added letters and running number is on the side wall – it decides the variant.
Practical tip: count first, read second
You can spot the number of cars and the pantograph position even at dusk and from 200 metres away. You only need the lettering after that – and on the platform there's usually enough time for it.
Refurbishments: why no two EN57s look alike
The EN57 is a special case among multiple units. Because the basic type stayed in service for decades, many units were rebuilt – to very different extents. The range runs from a simple interior refresh, through new doors and windows, to completely redesigned front ends.
For spotters, that means two things:
- The class alone tells you little. Only the variant describes what you actually saw.
- The fleet is in flux. New procurement such as the PESA Elf or the Newag Impuls gradually displaces older units. Which vehicles run in which region changes with every round of contract awards.
That’s exactly why a cleanly kept logbook pays off here: anyone who notes the variant, number and date is documenting a fleet that won’t stay in this form for long. How to approach that in a structured way is shown in the guide to the sightings log.
A second reason precision pays off: refurbished units are often no longer recognisable as an EN57 to outsiders. Anyone looking only for the classic silhouette will miss them – and anyone who, conversely, takes every boxy vehicle for an EN57 collects misidentifications. The reliable order therefore always stays the same: check the hard features first, the ones no refurbishment changes, then read the lettering.
The hard features include the number of cars, the position of the pantographs and the entrance height. These three practically never change even with extensive refurbishment, because they’re anchored in the vehicle’s basic construction. The front, windows, doors, interior and livery, on the other hand, can be completely new. Anyone who internalises this distinction between structural and cosmetic features will get it wrong noticeably less often with refurbished vehicles from any country.
Collect variants, not just classes
Log which EN57 versions you've already had – and see at a glance what's still missing.
Where and how to photograph it
The EN57 is a rewarding subject, because it stands at the platform for a while and its silhouette is distinctive. The pitfalls lie elsewhere.
| Situation | Chance | What to watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Regional platform with a stop | high | The full train length rarely fits in the frame – choose a three-quarter view |
| Smaller rural station | medium | Quiet background, but little traffic |
| Larger junction station | high | Many trains, but a cluttered background and a tangle of overhead wires |
| Trackside photos out on the line | medium | Only from publicly accessible paths, never within the track area |
| Stabling groups | none | Operational railway land – no access, no subject |
Safety near the border, like everywhere else
Tracks, platform edges beyond the safety line, operational installations and stabling groups are off limits. That applies in Poland just as much as in Germany. Photograph only from publicly accessible areas.
How to bring together framing and position with long multiple units is covered in the guide good photos of trains. And if you want a systematic way to identify vehicles on an unfamiliar network in the first place, the guide to identifying classes will help.
Common mix-ups
It points to an EN57 if …
- the train consists of exactly three cars
- only the middle car carries pantographs
- the entrances have steps
- the lettering starts with EN57
Look more closely if …
- the front has been refurbished and looks unfamiliar
- several units are coupled together and the number of cars becomes unclear
- an unfamiliar regional livery makes identification harder
It's not an EN57 if …
- the train has four cars and two of them are powered – then the EN71 comes into question
- the entrance is step-free – then you're looking at a modern multiple unit instead
- the designation starts with ED or EU instead of EN
Conclusion
The EN57 is the vehicle that best teaches the Polish designation system – and at the same time one where the class alone tells you too little. Three cars, pantographs in the middle, a designation starting with EN: that puts you in the right family. Everything else is decided by the lettering, because the same number can hide vehicles with very different histories.
In short
Three-car, pantographs in the middle, high-floor entrance: that's the EN57. Anyone who notes the variant too is documenting a fleet that keeps changing with every new procurement.
Archive your Poland sightings properly
Designation, number, location and photo captured together – so today's fleet stays traceable later on.
Summary
- The EN57 shaped electric local services in Poland for decades and remains a key subject for spotting in the neighbouring country.
- It can be reliably recognised by its three-car build and the centrally positioned pantographs.
- The many refurbishment variants effectively turn one class into a whole vehicle family with very different appearances.
- How many units run where keeps shifting – new procurement gradually displaces older vehicles.
Frequently asked questions
What is the PKP EN57?
The EN57 is a three-car electric local multiple unit, built by the Pafawag works in Wrocław. It's made up of two driving trailers with a motor car in between, runs under 3 kV DC, and is Poland's most-built electric multiple unit – the standard vehicle in electrified regional services for decades.
What does the designation EN57 stand for?
The Polish PKP system builds designations from letters and digits. The first letter names the traction type – E stands for electric – the second the intended use: N means railcar. The number 57 is the running class number. EU07, ET22 or SM42 are formed on the same pattern.
How do I recognise an EN57 at a glance?
By its three-car build and the position of the pantographs: they sit only on the middle car, while the two end cars are unpowered driving trailers. Combined with the boxy, high-floor body, this makes a very distinctive silhouette that's recognisable even from a distance.
What do the letters after EN57 mean?
They mark refurbishment and fit-out variants. Over the years, many units were rebuilt to very different extents – from a simple interior refresh to entirely new front ends. That's why two vehicles with the same basic designation can look very different from the outside.
Can you also see the EN57 in Germany?
It's not a vehicle in regular German domestic service. In the German-Polish border region, Polish local multiple units are conceivable in principle, but that depends on contract awards and cross-border concepts and changes with each timetable year. You'll reliably find it on Polish regional lines.
Is the EN57 a low-floor vehicle?
No. It has a high-set floor and entrances with steps, designed for the low platforms of its era. That sets it clearly apart from modern multiple units such as the PESA Elf or the Newag Impuls, which are built for step-free entrances.
How should I document an EN57 sighting properly?
Note the full vehicle designation including the letters after the 57, plus the running number, date, location and livery. With this vehicle especially, the variant is the real piece of information – a bare "saw an EN57" loses exactly what makes the sighting interesting.
Why do you see so many different liveries?
Because the vehicles were distributed over the years to various operators and regions, each using its own colour schemes. Combined with the varying refurbishment status, that produces an unusually wide range of shapes and colours within a single class.
Log your sighting of the PKP EN57
Date, location and vehicle number logged in seconds – and visible to the community.
Related classes
PKP EN71
The PKP EN71 is the four-car relative of the EN57, with two powered cars. Here's how you tell the two apart in the field and how the designation fits together.
EMUPESA Elf (EN76 / ED78)
The Elf is PESA's electric multiple unit family from Bydgoszcz. Its class codes EN76 and ED78 show how the Polish system encodes use rather than origin.
EMUNewag Impuls (EN76 / EN96)
The Impuls is Newag's electric multiple-unit family from Nowy Sącz. Its product name and PKP class codes such as EN76 or EN96 describe two different levels.
EMUPKP IC ED161 (DART)
The PKP IC ED161 is the PESA-built Dart in Polish long-distance service. Here's how to identify it reliably and tell it apart from the FLIRT family's ED160.
EMUKoleje Mazowieckie Class 31WE (Stadler FLIRT)
The 31WE is the Polish FLIRT variant for Koleje Mazowieckie around Warsaw. The shared bogies make the family instantly recognisable.
EMUKonstal 105Na
The Konstal 105Na has shaped Polish tram networks for decades. A boxy high-floor car, usually coupled in twos – and running in countless rebuilt variants.
Who is behind it
Groups, brands, manufacturers and operators – who owns whom and how to recognise them out in the field.
Metro Warszawa
Metro Warszawa is the name of an urban transport system with two lines, not of a railway company. The operator is a company owned by the City of Warsaw, the vehicles don't carry European vehicle numbers, and the track doesn't belong to the national infrastructure manager. That's exactly where most entries go wrong.
InfrastructurePKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe
PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe holds Poland's tracks, points and platforms – the company runs no trains itself. The station building, though, belongs to a different company in the same group. Anyone who keeps the two apart understands Polish sightings much faster.
State railwayPolskie Koleje Państwowe (PKP)
Polish locomotive designations are the most clear-cut numbering system in Central Europe: two letters tell you the traction and purpose before you've even read the number. The group structure behind them is considerably less clear – a lot of what's called PKP no longer belongs to it.
Where to see the PKP EN57
Specific viewpoints with lighting times, coordinates and an honest verdict on whether the trip is worth it.
Kraków Główny
Kraków Główny is the most important rail hub in southern Poland – and a station you barely see from outside, because a shopping centre stands on top of it. Under the roof, international trains towards Prague, Vienna and Budapest meet regional services to Upper Silesia and the Beskids.
Junction stationWarszawa Centralna
Warszawa Centralna is Poland's central long-distance station – and one of the darkest major stations in Europe. Between concrete pillars and neon light, high-speed multiple units meet locomotive-hauled trains from the seventies. If you get on top of the lighting, you get a cross-section of Polish long-distance traffic.
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