“The new schedule also plans to increase seat availability during peak periods by 20%, the company says”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
In the new schedule, it is also planned to increase the offer of seats in peak periods by 20% and in general to offer an additional two million seats for the year, the message says.
“This year, we are setting ourselves even more ambitious goals for passenger traffic. And since our fleet of rolling stock remains limited, we must become much more efficient in order to transport even more passengers. That is why the 2026 traffic schedule is based on increasing efficiency: new round-trip flights, high-quality acceleration, more detailed connections,” said Oleksandr Pertsovsky, chairman of the board of Ukrzaliznytsia.
In particular, the UZ informed about:
- new train No. 47/48 (Kramatorsk) Barvinkove – Chop “for residents of the front-line Donetsk region, which currently maintains a multimodal (with the involvement of buses for the “last mile”) connection with the rest of Ukraine;
- new train No. 33/34 Kryvyi Rih – Ivano-Frankivsk, connecting the central regions with Prykarpattia;
- the updated route of train No. 113/114 Kharkiv – Uzhgorod, “the historical “Bakhmut” route, which is an irreplaceable train of social importance for Polissia and Volyn, is being extended to Transcarpathia.”
In addition, as reported by the company, from December 14 clocked traffic between Kyiv and Lviv will be introduced. “This means that on the most popular route Kyiv – Lviv – Kyiv, trains will run according to a stable and repeated schedule – every hour. The vast majority of trains will run year-round with a few exceptions for the “off-peak” period,” the message reads.
According to Ukrzaliznytsia, also starting from December 14, Berehove will receive a direct connection with Budapest.
Read also: “Ukrzaliznytsia” will receive 13 billion UAH from the state in 2025, another 16 billion next year – Svyridenko
“The newly built European track connects Transcarpathian Berehovo and Chop with Hungarian Budapest in Nyiredgaza. Starting from December 14, train No. 36/35,32/37 Budapest – Nyiregyhaza – Berehove will go to Ukraine via the Ferihegy station (Budapest International Airport) and Chop. In addition, the additional regional train No. 644/647 Uzhgorod – Zahon (via Chop) will allow you to transfer to any of the regular trains of the Hungarian Railways in the direction of Budapest in Zahon,” the company said.
Ukrzaliznytsia also reported that in the new schedule, Ukrainian flights will be synchronized with trains to Germany, so that it is possible to get there with one transfer.
“The catalyst for changes was, among other things, the published statistical data of the beginning of 2025, according to which Germany surpassed Poland in terms of the number of refugees accepted from Ukraine. As of the end of 2024, more than 1.14 million Ukrainians who received temporary protection lived in Germany. Therefore, in the new traffic schedule of 2025-2026, thanks to close cooperation with Polish and German partners, Ukrzaliznytsia will synchronize Ukrainian flights with trains to Germany. From December 2025, the cross-border connection between Germany and Poland will increase by 54% – instead of 11 direct trains, 17 will run,” the message reads.
On November 1, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi announced that he had commissioned the development of a transport support program under which Ukrzaliznytsia will be able to provide every Ukrainian with the opportunity to travel three thousand kilometers by train within the borders of Ukraine for free.
Later, the chairman of the board of Ukrzaliznytsia Pertsovskyi said that the UZ-3000 program will start working in December, first of all, it will work for the frontline regions, and in January it will work for everyone. According to him, it will be possible to track the use of kilometers in the application, as well as to receive hints of directions in which they can be used.
Pertsovsky assumes that in the worst case the program will cost the company 400 million hryvnias in revenue.