Train tickets going up in price from March 1

Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Kryklii says Ukraine on March 1 will start indexing monthly tariffs for railway passenger transportation, which have remained unchanged since 2018.

The minister noted that no indexation of passenger transportation, which is unprofitable for Ukraine's railway giant JSC Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian Railways), had been carried out for two years, as reported by the Ukrainian online news outlet Obozrevatel.

"Indexation had been scheduled for 2020. But there were different coronavirus-related restrictions. In particular, passenger transportation was suspended for more than three months, so there was no point in doing it. A 2% indexation per month is planned to come in effect from March," he added.

Saving on ticket purchases

Kryklii says passengers can save up to 40% on ticket purchases by buying them in advance.

Now, Ukrzaliznytsia's rolling stock is "not in very good condition," he says. It hasn't been upgraded for 30 years. By the end of 2021, it is planned to upgrade up to 100 cars. In addition, railway stations and relevant facilities are expected to be upgraded this year.

Background

Read alsoUkrzaliznytsia plans to sell tickets via Viber, TelegramJSC Ukrzaliznytsia, in partnership with Visa and Middleware Inc., planned to launch a chatbot on Viber and Telegram allowing users to buy tickets.

The chatbot is expected to be launched based on the Corezoid Hyperautomation Engine technology, Ukrzaliznytsia said.

Also, the company is considering the possibility of integrating meal pre-orders into the online rail booking and ticketing system.