The Ukrainian Railways joint-stock company (JSC Ukrzaliznytsia) carried almost 1.6 million passengers to and from the European Union during these two years.

Ukrzaliznytsia announced this in a statement, the CFTS portal reports.

“The company is currently working on expansion of its route network in the western direction,” Ukrzaliznytsia’s Board Chairman Yevhen Kravtsov said. “The volume of direct passenger transportation from Ukraine to the European Union in the two years since the introduction of visa-free travel is 980,000 and the volume in the opposite direction 615,000. Ukrzaliznytsia has flexible response to demand, offering 21 passenger trains and direct railcars for overseas travel. It is possible to travel from Ukraine to Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Austria, Romania, Poland, Slovakia, and Bulgaria by train."

In addition, according to the head of Ukrzaliznytsia, more than tenfold increase in the number of passengers traveling to and from the European Union by rail is currently being observed. “Compared with 2016, before the introduction of visa-free travel, 62,000 passengers were transported while 821,000 were transported in in 2018. Since the beginning of this year, 374,000 passengers have already been transported to the European Union and back,” he said.

As reported earlier, a Kosice-Mukacheve train began operating on a Euro-gauge track on June 9 this year. The fare on the train is EUR 7.5. "In addition, we plan to launch Kyiv-Berlin and Prague-Mukacheve international trains, using the 1435 mm track gauge. We are also holding talks on extension of the route of the ‘Train of 4 Capitals’ to Estonia," Kravtsov said.

According to Ukrzaliznytsia, the train timetable for 2018/2019 includes 21 passenger trains on the Ukraine-European Union route.

No. 31/32 Kyiv-Riga (once every four days);

No. 33/34 Budapest-Mukacheve (daily);

No. 36/35 Odesa-Przemysl (daily);

No. 52/51 Lviv-Wroclaw (daily, with Kyiv-Wroclaw direct wagons);

No. 67/68 Kyiv-Warsaw (daily);

No. 90/89 Lviv-Przemysl (on some days);

No. 381/380 Bucharest-Vadul Siret (daily);

No. 1385/1384 Suceava-Vadul Siret (daily);

No. 451/1003-1004/452 Minsk-Varna (on some days in the summer);

№ 705/706 Kyiv-Przemysl (daily);

№ 715/716 Kyiv-Przemysl (daily);

No. 960/961, No. 962/963 Kosice-Mukacheve (daily);

No. 8860/8863 Chop-Čierna nad Tisou (daily);

No. 8862/8861 Chop-Kosice (daily);

No. 32510/32519, 32516/32513, 32520/32529, 32526/32523 and 32530/32539 Zahony-Chop (daily);

No. 32512/32521 Zahony-Mukacheve (daily).

Through wagons:

Kyiv-Kosice, part of the trains Nos. 81/8861-8862/108/30 (daily);

Kyiv-Vienna, part of the trains Nos. 749/145/32519 / 140-147 / 32510/146/750 daily;

Kyiv-Wroclaw, part of the trains Nos. 749/51-52/750 (daily);

Kyiv-Bucharest, as part of the trains Nos. 117/959/381-380/960/118 (once a week);

Kyiv-Varna, part of the trains Nos. 49/451/1003-1004/452/50 (during operation of the train No. 451/1003-1004/452 Minsk-Varna.in the summer).