“It will be carried out at the expense of seats that drive empty in the off-peak season. They will also review ticket prices in the premium segment”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
According to the official, the program will be implemented at the expense of seats that drive empty in the off-peak season. They also plan to compensate for the costs by revising prices for premium segment tickets.
He says that the “UZ-3000” program will not apply to 1st class, SV and international carriages. For these categories of tickets, UZ plans to introduce a dynamic price and additional services in parallel, in order, in particular, to compensate for the costs of the program.
“In order to compensate for the possible loss of income from those who use “kilometers” and would still drive for money, we are simultaneously introducing compensators, in particular, more flexible pricing in the premium segment, which is still regulated today. So these additional kilometers do not increase the burden on the state budget,” Pertsovsky explained the financing of the program.
Meeting of government members with journalists. November 3, 2025
According to government officials and the chairman of Ukrzaliznytsia, the program will last four months – during the period when the demand for tickets is lower. As Pertsovsky noted in a commentary for Radio Liberty, last year about a million seats remained vacant during the off-peak four months of the winter season.
“During a period of low demand for passenger transportation, Ukrzaliznytsia has 200-250,000 unfilled seats per month in long-distance trains. And Ukrzaliznytsia proposes to use them for the social program. We want to balance the demand, fill these seats and unload the peak dates when there are practically no tickets,” said the chairman of the company’s board.
According to the survey conducted by Ukrzaliznytsia, the majority of passengers are ready to change the date or even the month of travel, says Pertsovsky.
Thus, in August, when tickets are sold out instantly, “Ukrzaliznytsia” transports about 2.6 million passengers, while in February – only 1.9 million. So during periods of lower load, the company can fill up seats, offer trips “by kilometers” and carry more passengers without additional costs.
The details of the program’s functioning are currently being worked out. The initiative will start in December. At the first stage, they plan to focus on passengers from the frontline areas. According to Oleksiy Kuleba, Minister of Community and Territorial Development, it is “about regional centers where a total of 12 million people live.”
Earlier, RFE/RL reported that in 2025, “Ukrzaliznytsia” will receive from the state 13 billion hryvnias, another 16 billion next year to compensate for the unprofitability of passenger transportation.
“The government provides funding for UZ in a difficult period, these are taxpayers’ funds, so citizens should receive support from UZ – we are creating an opportunity to travel under the UZ-3000 program and fill places that usually remain vacant,” Yuliya Svyridenko noted.
At the same time, according to her, it is necessary to understand that 16 billion hryvnias of support for Ukrzaliznytsia for the next year is not equal to the “UZ-3000” program.
On November 1, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi reportedwho commissioned the development of a transport support program, within the framework of which “Ukrzaliznytsia” offered to provide a Ukrainian with the opportunity to travel 3,000 kilometers by train within the borders of Ukraine for free.
