The Ukrainian Railways joint-stock company (JSC Ukrzaliznytsia has reached a preliminary agreement with the Slovakian Railways on launch of a train on the Mukacheve-Kosice route in June this year.
This was announced by Ukrzaliznytsia’s head Yevhen Kravtsov, the CFTS portal reports.
The head of Ukrzaliznytsia also said that a test train would be operated on this route on April 2.
“We are still cautious about dates, but the preliminary agreements are as follows: Ukrzaliznytsia will launch the Mukacheve-Kosice train in June. A test train will operate on this route in a few months – on April 2. The trains will be formed by our counterparts from Slovakia. The travel time is about four hours," said Kravtsov.
According to him, Ukrzaliznytsia intends still to turn Mukacheve into a hub for rail links with the European Union.
As reported, a daily direct train from Mukacheve to Budapest was launched on December 9, 2018. The train’s rolling stock belongs to the Hungarian railways. Ukrzaliznytsia provided a new platform, signaling equipment, and communication facilities for the new passenger train. It also repaired its own section of the route to accommodate the train.
In total, 1,602 people had used the Mukacheve-Budapest train as of January 6 (less than one month after it began operation).
In late January 2019, Ukraine’s Minister of Infrastructure Volodymyr Omelian announced plans to launch trains from Ukraine to Slovakia and Germany in 2019. “We are planning to launch trains to Berlin and Kosice this year,” said the minister.
