JSC Ukrzaliznytsia carried 472,900 passengers during the first week of June (June 1–7).
As noted in the company’s Telegram post on Wednesday, the largest number of passengers (over 13,000) traveled on Train No. 104 Lviv-Lozova.
“We are already receiving 340,000 ticket requests daily and transporting 80,000 people,” Ukrzaliznytsia reported.
According to data for the first week of June, the average number of passengers per car was 393. The number of passengers in children’s groups was 16,400, and the number of military personnel via the special reserve was 2,400.
UZ added that it plans to transport a total of 7 million passengers over the three summer months.
In early June, Ukrzaliznytsia told the Interfax-Ukraine news agency that this year’s summer passenger transport season would be more challenging than last year’s due to rising demand and a reduction in the number of cars.
PASSENGER TRANSPORT, RAILWAY, SUMMER, TICKETS, UKRZALIZNYTSIA
Czech railway operator Leo Express will launch a new international train in June 2026 that will connect Frankfurt and Frankfurt Airport with the Polish city of Przemyśl, located near the Ukrainian border.
According to the company, the route will pass through Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland. The train will depart from Przemyśl and travel via Kraków, Ostrava, Prague, Dresden, Leipzig and Erfurt to Frankfurt and Frankfurt Airport. In the opposite direction, the train will operate daily.
Przemyśl has become one of the key transport hubs for Ukrainian passengers since the beginning of the full-scale war, as the city is located approximately 10 km from the Ukrainian border and is connected by railway routes with Ukraine. The new service will allow passengers to travel more conveniently from the border region to the Czech Republic and Germany without complicated transfers.
The length of the route will be more than 1,300 km, making it one of the longest direct railway routes in Europe. According to the carrier and specialized media, the train will operate daily in both directions, and the launch of the route is expected in June 2026.
For Ukrainian travelers, the route may become an important additional channel of connection with Central and Western Europe. It will connect Przemyśl with major transport hubs in Germany and the Czech Republic, including Prague, Dresden, Leipzig, Frankfurt and one of Europe’s largest airports.
The new train will also strengthen Poland’s role as a transit corridor for Ukrainians. Since 2022, Polish cities, primarily Przemyśl, Rzeszów, Kraków and Warsaw, have become the main transfer points for trips between Ukraine and EU countries.
For Leo Express, the launch of the line means the expansion of its international network and increased competition in the railway market of Central Europe. The company positions the new route as a direct connection between Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland and the Ukrainian border region.
Leo Express is a private Czech railway and bus operator working on routes in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and other countries of the region. The company develops international passenger transportation and competes with state-owned and private operators in Central Europe.
Bulgaria, Greece, and Romania have agreed to prepare a joint application for European funding for a high-speed railway line along the “Western Axis” Athens-Thessaloniki-Sofia-Bucharest, according to the Bulgarian publication Sega.
According to the publication, the initiative was discussed at a meeting between representatives of the three countries and the European Commission in the context of the development of the North-South transport corridor, which is intended to connect the Baltic, Black and Aegean Seas. The meeting was hosted by Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Grozdan Karadzhov.
Greek Transport Minister Konstantinos Kiranakis said that by 2027, it is planned to provide high-quality passenger rail service between Thessaloniki and Sofia, while the Bulgarian side recalled that rail service on this route was interrupted in 2017.
Karadzhov also noted that the countries intend to synchronize planning, design, and permitting procedures to avoid delays and bureaucratic obstacles. Among Bulgaria’s priorities, he highlighted the acceleration of the project for a new bridge across the Danube between Ruse and Giurgiu, as well as the preparation of projects for new bridges in the Nikopol-Turnu Măgurele and Silistra-Kelerashi areas; the restoration of ferry connections on the Danube, including the Ruse-Giurgiu line, was also mentioned.
According to Sega, Romanian Transport Ministry representative Ionut Cristian Savoiu named among Romania’s priorities the modernization of the existing Giurgiu-Ruse bridge, the construction of a new Danube bridge, and the development of road and rail lines, as well as improvements on the Vidin – Calafat – Craiova section for better connectivity with Ukraine and Moldova.
Ukrzaliznytsia received 2,000 tons of high-tech R-65 rails from Japanese manufacturer Nippon Steel, with another 1,000 tons expected to be delivered by the end of January, according to a press release from the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development on Thursday.
According to the release, this cooperation was made possible within the framework of the third phase of the emergency recovery program through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
“This was the result of systematic interaction and successful agreements with Japanese partners on the part of the Ministry in early 2025. Ukraine currently does not have its own rail production, so attracting partner support is necessary and crucial for the functioning of the Ukrainian railway,” the ministry emphasized.
It is noted that the cooperation currently involves the transfer of 3,000 tons of rails for a total amount of about $4 million.
The ministry specified that railway workers use mobile complexes to weld rails directly on the tracks and thermally join joints, resulting in the creation of a so-called “velvet track” without joints, which increases its service life and ensures smooth train movement.
“We are sincerely grateful to the Government of Japan for its strategic support, which allows us not only to maintain the network, but also to carry out major repairs in accordance with the highest international standards, ensuring reliable connections even in the most difficult times,” said Marina Denisyuk, Deputy Minister of Community and Territorial Development, in a press release.
The Ministry of Development recalled that support from the Japanese government and JICA has continued since the beginning of the full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation. In particular, during this period, almost 25,000 tons of rails have been delivered, which has made it possible to renovate more than 193 km of tracks on strategic routes of the Lviv, South-Western, Dnipro, Southern, and Odesa railways.
In addition, railway workers also received 24 units of construction and loading/unloading equipment from Komatsu, Toyota, and Sonalika, 22 of which were track equipment, and the total cost of equipment and materials supplied during the first two phases of the program exceeded $42 million, the agency noted.
“The delivered equipment, namely wheel excavators, loaders, and bulldozers, has already worked more than 13,000 motor hours on emergency repair work,” the agency emphasized.
In the Suzak district of the Jalal-Abad region of Kyrgyzstan, construction has officially begun on major railway facilities for the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway.
As part of the construction of this railway, three tunnels with a total length of over 10 km are planned to be built, including: Tunnel No. 1 Naryn (Jaman-Dawan) – 12.5 km; Koshtoba (Kazarman) tunnel – 13.2 km; Fergana mountain tunnel – 12.2 km. The total length of this railway project is 532.53 km.
CHINA, CONSTRUCTION, KYRGYZSTAN, RAILWAY, tunnels, UZBEKISTAN
Railroad operators in the Czech Republic and Poland have temporarily canceled a number of flights due to flooding, including, according to Czech RegioJet, a temporary suspension of traffic on the section between Ostrava and Olomouc, Czech Republic, which is used by the company’s trains from Prague to Przemysl and Chop.
“We ask all passengers to postpone their current trips between Ostrava and Olomouc or Przeworów. We will inform you about further developments,” the company said on its website.
For its part, Ukrzaliznytsia clarified that as of now, both RegioJet trains from Prague to Chop and Przemysl are still in the Czech Republic and have no chance of catching their connecting Ukrainian flights.
“Therefore, we remind you that we are ready to accept passengers with tickets for today’s trains for any of our flights of the same destination in the next day to any available seats without exchanging tickets,” the Ukrainian railroad operator said.
As for passengers from Ukraine traveling to their connection in the Prague direction, Ukrzaliznytsia recommended contacting the Czech or Polish railway operator to clarify the schedule of the next flights.
“There is a high probability that passengers should plan to spend the night in the city of connection,” UZ said.
