Ukraine train travel? Yes, why not? For those who have not yet had a chance to check out Ukraine on the map, we’ll tell you one sure thing: this country is large. Few realize that it’s actually bigger than any other European country – Germany, France or Spain! The only larger state in Europe is Russia, and it’s hardly even in Europe.

Therefore, trains are no doubt the most popular mode of transportation for tourists and locals in Ukraine.

They are cheap (max 25 euros to cross the whole 2400 km of the country), quite comfortable and are an excellent way to travel responsibly.

So, taking up the duty of introducing the best of Ukraine to you, we’ve prepared this guide, which will take you through “fire and metal pipes” of Ukraine’s railway system and will help you travel across our beautiful country in a most comfortable and sustainable way.

WHAT ARE THE TRAIN TYPES

There are three types of trains in Ukraine: suburban, regular speed trains, and intercity.

Suburban trains connect small towns and villages around a regional city and are a good way to travel off-the-beaten-track. Extremely cheap, they are not always the most comfortable, but always give you a real authentic feel of Ukraine.

Regular speed trains are most commonly used. They can be either ’slow’ or ’fast’, the last ones also called ’firmovy’ – the best on their routes.

Intercity trains take almost half the time than regular speed trains but are currently serving only a few destinations: Kyiv-Lviv, Kyiv-Kharkov, Kyiv-Zaporizhja, Kyiv- Ternopil, Kyiv-Kryvyy Rih, Kyi- Truskavetsj, Kyiv-Odesa, Kyiv- Krasnoarmijsk. They are also double the price.

WHAT ARE THE CARRIAGE TYPES

Each train usually has 4 classes of carriages.

1st class (‘Sleeping Wagon, ‘Spalny Wagon’) means you stay overnight in a cabin, with two berths only.

It is usually very comfortable. There is definitely more privacy in, and to top that – you can expect better service from your train attendants.

For 2nd class (‘Kupe’) expect a separated cabin, with four berths in each, two at the top and two at the bottom. It is most popular with tourists, as it gives enough privacy, and offers good value for the price.

 

Good tip: if you want to have the privacy of the first class, but can’t afford it on your trip, you can buy out all four tickets in your second class compartment. It will still be cheaper than the first class.

As of recent, most popular destinations also offer ’female only’ or ’male only’ cabins. If you’d like to buy a ticket for either one, simply ask for them when you are buying your ticket.

3rd class (’platskart’)  carriages do not have separated cabins, and thus can not be closed. Four berths are located on one side of the carriage, while two other berths are located sideways. It’s usually much less private, less comfortable, but very local.

Budget travelers and students will be comfortable taking it as well. If you are a solo female traveler, you might also be more comfortable taking this option, as you won’t end up stuck in the compartment with three other guys (can happen this way).

 

4th class (‘zagalnyj’) is typically reserved for students and short-term travelers. No ticket places are assigned, which often means you get only a place to sit, not to sleep.

 

HOW TO READ UKRAINIAN TRAIN TICKET

Those of you who have already been to Ukraine will remember the all-Cyrillic ticket print-out, that you kindly received from the ticket lady at any railway station in the country. How often have you stared at it blindly, not knowing what useful information it actually contains? Well, stare no more! Check out below this wonderful explanation of each & every word of train ticket print-out.

 

The photo is courtesy of our friends from ‘On the corner’ – a wonderful family-owned guesthouse in Kolomyia (Carpathian region).

 

HOW TO BUY TICKET ONLINE

 To do so, go to booking.uz.gov.ua, choose your language from the top menu, and follow the instructions. The steps are straightforward and clear, and most will be able to navigate them without an issue.

FEW NOTES TO KEEP IN MIND:

1. If you are not sure how the English name of the city is spelled, you can check this useful Wikipedia List of Ukrainian cities. It has a list of all Ukrainian cities, with their corresponding names in English and Cyrillic.

2. You can only buy train tickets for trains within Ukraine. So if you want to take a train from Lviv to Budapest, you won’t be able to do so online. You will have to go to the train station and get it from the counter.

3. Tickets are available 30 days before the train departure date. Make sure you keep in mind this schedule, as popular destinations (Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, and Kharkiv), tend to sell out quickly.

4. Once you buy the ticket online, you will receive an email with the copy of the e-ticket. Your e-ticket is  A VALID TRAVEL DOCUMENT for the most trains! You actually don't even need to print it out or write down the e-ticket number, it is simply enough to have a photo of your ticket with all the numbers on your phone.

This is how to read e-ticket

• A number of the railway ticket.

• Passenger’s surname and name.

• Train number, car number, and seat number.

• The QR code to be scanned by the car attendant while boarding the train.

 

( Courtesy of avia.tickets.ua)

HOW TO RETURN ONLINE TICKET

It is possible now to return your online ticket via internet

Online return of electronic tickets can be done through the Web site www.booking.uz.gov.ua through the user control panel. Go to “ Actual tickets” – choose tickets you want to return –  click “return” – then you have to confirm the return – you will get a new document “ return ticket”. It will take a couple of days before you get your money back on your card. Just make sure you keep your “return ticket” form.

You can only return tickets on condition it was not printed out in the railway ticket office and there is at least 1 hour before train departure.

If you return the ticket before 24 hours, then you get refund fully for the ticket and reservation part, but lose what is called service commission ( around 10-15 UAH). Also, you will need to pay special fee for returning ticket, which is I think 20 UAH at the moment.

The return of electronic travel documents and order forms on the Web site booking.uz.gov.ua is possible regardless of their place of formalizing.

(courtesy of Ukrainian Railways website)

HOW TO BUY TICKET OFFLINE

While it’s nice to have an option of buying your tickets online, sometimes you still have to get your ticket pass at the station itself.

FINDING THE RIGHT COUNTER

When you get to the railway station, your first step should be finding the right counter – KACA. There are a few types of KACA available – for short-distance trains, for long-distance trains, for railway employees, for army officers, in-advance counter, etc.

What you should be looking for is either this word:

KACA – Counter (any regular counter)

or

Каса дальнього сполучення – Long-distance counter

If you want to buy your ticket not for today, but for tomorrow or within the upcoming 40 days, you should look for Каса попереднього продажу – in-advance counter.

Since queues at the railway station counters are quite common, here are some tips on how to avoid them.

 

In Lviv buy your tickets not in the main railway building. Instead go to the building right nearby (separate entrance), go up to the second floor: the army officers hall. There you can find counters #15-16. Barely any lines!

In addition,  you can go to Hnatiuka st., 20 (side street from Svobody ave., 10 min walk from Opera Theater). Very handy for those, who stay in the centrally located hotels.

In Kyiv

In Kyiv buy your tickets at the Sales Office at Metro ‘University, Shevchenko st., 38/40.  Very few people there usually!

Here’s more addresses of Sales Offices in Kyiv.

• Metro station ‘University’, Shevchenko St., 38/40

• Boryspil International Airport (Terminal B)

• Nyzhniy Val st., 33B, office 17

• Pravdy Ave, 66 (Supermarket ‘Silpo’, 2nd floor)

• Druzhby narodiv boulevard, 28

In Odesa

You can buy train tickets at Academika Zabolotnoho st., 12.

ACTUAL PROCEDURE OF BUYING TICKET FROM THE COUNTER

Ok. Here’s big and important piece of information: as expected, ticket ladies do not speak any English. They are usually very Soviet-Style, and won’t be super helpful, unless you are clear on what it is exactly that you want. We are sorry about this and apologize from all Ukrainians for this Soviet-style approach in advance. But well – that’s how it really is (we won’t sugar coat).

Before getting to the railway station, you should have made decision on the following information: From where-To where you want to go, Train number, Carriage type (1st, 2nd or 3rd class), and Seat type.

In order to help you with the communication, we’ve prepared a small cheat-sheet. You only need to copy paste the text below in a Word document, fill out the necessary information, print it out, and show it to the ticket lady. Here you go!

Ukrainian version (for Western Ukraine and Kyiv)

ДОБРИЙ ДЕНЬ!

ДАЙТЕ БУДЬ ЛАСКА

ОДИН КВИТОК (1 ticket), ___ КВИТКИ (no of tickets),

З ____________(departure) ДО  _______________ (your destination),

НА ДАТУ ___(dd).___(mm)._____(year),

НОМЕР ПОЇЗДА № __________(train number),

ПЛАЦКАРТНИЙ/КУПЕЙНИЙ/СВ ВАГОН (3rd class, 2nd class, 1st class carriage: select only what you want),

ВЕРХНЄ/НИЖНЄ МІСЦЕ (upper/lower bench),

БАЖАНО НЕБОКОВЕ (not a side bench, choose this only for 3rd class!),

БАЖАНО НЕ БІЛЯ ТУАЛЕТУ (not next to the toilet).

ЩИРО ДЯКУЮ! (thank you so much!)

Russian version (for Southern and Eastern Ukraine, Crimea)

ДОБРЫЙ ДЕНЬ!

ДАЙТЕ ПОЖАЛУЙСТА

ОДИН БИЛЕТ (1 ticket), ___ БИЛЕТА (no of tickets),  ОТ ____________(departure) ДО _______________ (your destination),

НА ДАТУ ___(dd).___(mm)._____(year),

НОМЕР ПОЕЗДА № __________(train number),

ПЛАЦКАРТНЫЙ/КУПЕЙНЫЙ/СВ ВАГОН (3rd class, 2nd class, 1st class carriage: select only what you want),

ВЕРХНЕЕ/НИЖНЕЕ МЕСТО (upper/lower bench),

ЖЕЛАТЕЛЬНО НЕБОКОВОЕ (not a side bench, choose this only for 3rd class!),

ЖЕЛАТЕЛЬНО НЕ ВОЗЛЕ ТУАЛЕТА(not next to the toilet).

СПАСИБО ВАМ БОЛЬШОЕ! (thank you so much!)

Pick up your ticket, say DIAKUJU (in Ukrainian), or SPASIBO (in Russian) and move on to your train!

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW WHEN YOU TRAVEL WITH KIDS

Pricing

If you travel with one child under 6, you do not need to buy an extra ticket and you will not get a separate seat for your kid. If you have more than one child under 6, you need to buy tickets for every kid but one.

If you travel with children aged 6 to 14, you get a discount for their tickets. You pay only 75% of the regular ticket price.

Documents

If you travel with a child under 14, you need to have documents that shows kid’s age ( e.g. birth certificate, passport, etc.)

HOW TO TRANSPORT A BICYCLE

If you are a bike fan and travel inseparably from your two-wheel “friend”, here is how it is done.  If you transport it in a disassembled way, it is packed and its weight does not go over 36 kg., then it is free. If it is big, cannot be disassembled and weighs more than 36 kg., than it goes to a special luggage compartment. It will cost approximately 50% of your regular ticket price.

 

 

WAITING HALLS

Each railway station in Ukraine usually has two classes of waiting halls: free and paid. Unless you are really-really out of money, we strongly advise you to use the paid waiting halls. They are usually inexpensive – 3-5 UAH, and are way more comfortable.

Note: If your train departs within one hour, you can use the paid waiting hall for free! Just show your ticket to the counter-lady and confidently walk in.

 

HOW TO USE LUGGAGE STORAGE

If you are in the city for only a day, it makes more sense to leave your big luggage in the storage room, and walk around with a light backpack.

There are two types of storage rooms: manual and automatic.

Automatic room is basically a big space with hundreds of storage lockers. They are able to store only small luggage (not a good fit for a large backpack or a suitcase). To use automatic storage, you need to buy a token for the locker at the storage counter. It should cost you around 1.5-2 euros.

 

To use manual storage rooms, simply pay at the counter, give the payment receipt at the window, where your luggage will be received, and collect the token. Its cost for storing large suitcases should be around 2 – 2.5 euros.

DO NOT LOSE YOUR TOKENS! It is a big pain to get your luggage if you do lose them. Do NOT leave any important stuff and documents in your stored luggage!

WHERE TO FIND INTERNET AT THE MAIN RAILWAY STATIONS

While there is already free wifi available for use at Boryspol International Airport, railways stations do not have such awesome feature available yet. If you travel by intercity train, you can access wi-fi on board.

Here’s where you can access the online world in Ukraine’s main railway stations:

In Kyiv:

• There is Internet Cafe on the main crossing between the Central Railway Station and Southern Railway Station. Getting there? Walk inside the Central Railway Station, get up the escalator, walk about 200 m until you reach a line of small shops with press, souvenirs, and sweets in the middle of the hall.  The Cafe is in between these stalls.

• Free Wifi is available at Shara-Vara restaurant. Get up the escalator, and turn left. The restaurant is really budget, and you can easily order a simple meal for 2 euros and use Internet as long as you want. Caution! Internet is not always reliable.

• Free WIFI is available at McDonald's, right outside of the Central Railway Station. Usually really crowded though.

In Lviv:

• Go to the paid waiting hall. You can find a line of computers with Internet there.

In Odesa:

• Walk from the Railway Station along Pushkinska st.  In about 200 m you will see a small underground Internet Cafe.

Have we answered all the questions you might have about taking trains in Ukraine? Is there a topic that we’ve not covered? Let us know and we’ll gladly add it to the post.  Make sure also to share it and help other travelers navigate Ukrainian trains.