RegioJet, the largest private train operator in the Czech Republic, applied to the Polish Railway Administration for permission to launch trains on the Prague – Przemysl – Medyka (on the Ukrainian border) route at the end of 2019.
This is stated in a report by the Rynek Kolejowy publication, the CFTS portal reports.
RegioJet announced plans to launch trains on this route in August 2019. As previously reported, the company intends to launch passenger trains from Prague via Pardubice, Ostrava, Bohumin (Czech Republic), Krakow, Rzeszow, Przemysl, Medyka (Poland) to the Mostyska-2 station (Lviv region).
"We confirm that this application has been received. It is currently being checked for completeness and compliance with the provisions on granting so-called open access. It is possible that the carrier will be summoned to address formal deficiencies. The operator indicated in its application that it wants to perform transport operations on the Mostyska-Prague route from June 14, 2020," said Tomasz Frankowski, a spokesperson for the Polish Railway Administration.
“In connection with our plans to launch a Czech-Ukraine service in June 2020, which we have officially submitted, we have taken the next step in the process of obtaining a route as part of the open access procedure in Poland. Like other routes on which we already operate, the goal of RegioJet is to offer comfortable travel conditions combined with RegioJet’s full-fledged on-board services at a price that will be competitive compared to buses and low-cost airlines,” said Aleš Ondrůj, a spokesperson for RegioJet.
As reported, RegioJet announced late last summer that it intended to launch a direct night train to Ukraine in June 2020. The train will depart in each direction once a day. The train will consist of 8-12 wagons. It will depart from Prague at 22:10 and arrive at the Ukrainian border railway station at 09:30.
RegioJet plans a combined route – a night train from Prague to Mostyska and a bus from Mostyska to Lviv. “The goal is to transport passengers, especially between the Lviv region in Ukraine and key centers in the Czech Republic and other EU countries,” Ondrůj said.
Leo Express, another Czech-based private bus and train operator, plans to launch trains on the Prague-Krakow-Przemysl-Medyka route in mid-March 2020. Leo Express announced at the beginning of 2019 that it considered extension of its route to Ukraine (to the Mostyska station) of as a priority.
The European standard gauge of 1435 mm reaches the Mostyska-1 train station in the Lviv region, which is the next station after the Mostyska-2 station.
