The Ukrainian Railways joint-stock company (Ukrzaliznytsia) is adding six new children’s compartment railcars to its fleet, as reported by the CFTS portal.
All the railcars will undergo major refurbishment and be equipped with educational and interactive features. They will also be adapted for comfortable and safe travel with children.
Three of the railcars have already been fully refurbished and have completed their maiden voyage from the Kyiv train station.
According to Deputy Minister of Development of Communities and Territories Oleksii Balesta, children must remain the focus of attention during difficult times. "This project is a wonderful example of how it is possible to provide children with comfortable and safe travel even during wartime," he said.
Balesta also stated that the government continues to modernize the entire railway rolling stock. According to him, this year, the railway will receive 60 new passenger cars manufactured in Ukraine, which will improve passenger conditions and support the domestic industry.
The passengers on the special inaugural journey of the new railcars, which were pulled by a vintage steam locomotive, were children under the care of the charity organization Save Ukraine. Balesta, Ukrzaliznytsia’s Board Chairman Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, and representatives of the project’s partner Visa attended the event.
The first cars will be part of the trains No. 011/012 Lviv–Odesa and No. 001/002 Kharkiv–Ivano-Frankivsk. Tickets will go on sale on 24 April for trains departing from Lviv, 25 April for trains departing from Odesa, 2 May for trains departing from Kharkiv, and 3 May for trains departing from Ivano-Frankivsk.
Three more cars will be added to other passenger trains soon.
Tickets for the children’s railcars are available through the Ukrzaliznytsia mobile app. Their prices correspond to the cost of tickets for compartment cars of the same class on the same train.
In the app, these cars are labeled "Children’s." Children aged five and under travel free of charge and do not require a separate ticket.
