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.
Passenger traffic across the Ukrainian border in the first week after New Year’s, from January 3 to 9, jumped by about 27% to 598,000, according to data from the State Border Service.
According to them, the number of border crossings for departure increased to 258,000 (for comparison, data for January 7 is not included due to the lack of statistics from the State Border Service for December 30) from 223,000 a week earlier, while the increase in entries was even more significant – to 271,000 from 184,000.
The number of vehicles that passed through checkpoints this week also increased to 95,000 from 77,000 a week earlier, and the flow of vehicles with humanitarian cargo – to 342 from 268.
According to the State Border Service, as of 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, most of the cars and buses waiting to leave Ukraine at the Krakivets checkpoint were 45 and 8, respectively. The queue at the Ustyluh checkpoint consisted of 25 cars, at the Uhryniv checkpoint – 15 cars, and at the Shehyni checkpoint – 12 buses.
Twenty-five cars and seven buses were waiting to cross the border with Slovakia at the Uzhhorod checkpoint, and five cars were waiting at the Maly Berezny checkpoint.
At the border with Hungary, there was only a small queue of five cars at the Tisa checkpoint, while unusually long queues were recorded at the Porubne and Dyakove checkpoints on the border with Romania – 50 and 35 cars, respectively, as well as at the Mamalyga checkpoint on the border with Moldova – 35 cars.
The total number of border crossings this week is equal to last year’s figures. At that time, 302,000 people left Ukraine and 292,000 entered, while this week the figures were 295,000 and 303,000, respectively, although the flow of cars was higher last year – 117,000 versus 109,000, which is probably due to weather conditions.
Last year, a 16.9% increase in passenger traffic was recorded during this week, but the following week saw a 13.3% decrease.
As reported, from May 10, 2022, the outflow of refugees from Ukraine, which began with the start of the war, was replaced by an influx that lasted until September 23, 2022, and amounted to 409,000 people. However, since the end of September, possibly influenced by news of mobilization in Russia and “pseudo-referendums” in the occupied territories, followed by massive shelling of energy infrastructure, the number of those leaving exceeded the number of those entering. In total, from the end of September 2022 to the first anniversary of the full-scale war, it reached 223,000 people.
In the second year of the full-scale war, the number of border crossings to leave Ukraine, according to the State Border Service, exceeded the number of crossings to enter by 25,000, in the third year by 187,000, and since the beginning of the fourth year by 195,000.
As noted in early March 2023 by Serhiy Sobolev, who was then Deputy Minister of Economy, the return of every 100,000 Ukrainians home results in a 0.5% increase in GDP.
In its July inflation report, the National Bank worsened its migration forecast: while in April it expected a net inflow of 0.2 million people to Ukraine in 2026, it now forecasts a net outflow of 0.2 million, which corresponds to the estimate of the net outflow this year. “Net return will only begin in 2027 (about 0.1 million people, compared to 0.5 million in the previous forecast),” the NBU added and confirmed this forecast at the end of October. In absolute terms, the National Bank estimates the number of migrants currently remaining abroad at about 5.8 million.
According to updated UNHCR data, the number of Ukrainian refugees in Europe as of December 11, 2025, was estimated at 5.311 million (as of November 14 – 5.331 million), and globally at 5.860 million (5.850 million).
In Ukraine itself, according to the latest UN data for July this year, there are 3.340 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), compared to 3.757 million in April.
