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Ukraine (Kiev) Local Railways

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Iskra

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I’ve booked a spur of the moment trip to Ukraine in early January. It’s mainly a sight-seeing trip but I can spare one full day to devote to railways. However, all the major cities of Ukraine seem to be around 10 hours away by train so aren’t realistic day trips. Can anyone suggest a sensible return day rail trip from Kiev, ideally to somewhere vaguely interesting?

Also has anyone any experience of train travel in Ukraine? How did you find it? Any tips? (I’ve been on man in seat 61, but would prefer more than just 1 opinion).

Thanks in advance.
 
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Dougal2345

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I can't answer your question about day trips, when I was in Kiev last year I barely had time to see everything I wanted to in the city, but here's a previous thread that has some Ukraine train chat:
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/day-trip-from-lviv.168354/

FWIW I found the (long distance) trains clean and punctual, not like the ones in the Balkans for example. Even had Wi-Fi on one!

Didn't try the local trains, except for the cross-border one to Poland which was delayed, probably the fault of customs rather than railway though.

Don't miss the rail museum which is part of the main Kiev station (although the entrance is fiendishly difficult to find).

It's going to be chilly in January I should imagine... oh and if you like a nice view, you can climb up inside the arm of their Statue of Liberty equivalent, the Motherland Monument. A few ladders are involved but it's worth it!
 

mafeu

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Only travelled on the service to the airport when I was there at the beginning of the year. Clean and punctual also.

I second the suggestion to visit the rail museum. Accessed via the platforms. The State Aviation Museum is also worth a visit.

Visiting again in January and planning to tour Pripyat and visit some different locations. Look forward to hearing suggestions!
 

superalbs

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It's definitely quite reasonable to have a day trip to Kharkiv, in the east of the country. It's a beautiful destination, and the 4h49m rail journey is pleasant, and fast (unless it breaks down).

The trains are South Korean built Hyundai-Rotem EMUs, from 2012. They have 3x First Class carriage with very spacious 2+2 seating, and 6x Second Class carriage with reasonably good 2+3 seating. First class is worth paying the extra for, as you get a lot of space. A return in First Class would be about £50.

Your outward journey would feature the 0645 from Kiev to Kharkiv, arriving at 1134. This is a train service branded as InterCity+, and it appears to be successful, with trains normally being quite busy (reservation is, sadly, compulsory). Buffet and trolley available, and WiFi is also available, but it is shocking (you won't be complaining about WiFi on trains in the UK again, that's for sure). You can expect to see 100mph a few times on this route - really impressive!

The return journey would be the 1838 departure from Kharkiv to Kiev, arriving at 2327. This would also be an InterCity+ train, modern and fast.

It's a long day, but of course you have the choice of catching a UZ sleeper train back. And there is a lot of choice, with four sleeper trains being available.

Here are a few pictures from my experience doing the journey described above, which broke down, an experience in and of itself!

The unit standing proud in Kiev.
upload_2019-9-28_23-1-7.png

Amazing elevated curves, let you see the route ahead.
upload_2019-9-28_23-1-26.png

Broken down here...
upload_2019-9-28_23-1-36.png

That's not looking good.
upload_2019-9-28_23-1-49.png

Everyone has decided to get off the train here.
upload_2019-9-28_23-2-12.png

The stylish front of my train.
upload_2019-9-28_23-2-37.png

Train of questionable integrity overtaking our train on the wrong line.
upload_2019-9-28_23-2-58.png

Interesting photo opportunities must be taken.
upload_2019-9-28_23-3-12.png

The problem was quite severe.
upload_2019-9-28_23-3-24.png

Thankfully, Ukrainian maintenance genius to the rescue, and we were fixed up within 90 minutes.
upload_2019-9-28_23-3-34.png
 

superalbs

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A few more pictures...

Time to get back on the train!
upload_2019-9-28_23-4-17.png

Shunter with multiple unit vehicles.
upload_2019-9-28_23-4-25.png

Mounted steam locomotive.
upload_2019-9-28_23-4-34.png

The unit at a stunning Kharkiv station.
upload_2019-9-28_23-4-46.png

The Kharkiv station itself, platform side.
upload_2019-9-28_23-4-55.png

Incredible outside of Kharkiv station.
upload_2019-9-28_23-5-15.png

Ukraine is an incredible country for in general and rail alike, and certainly not one you will be forgetting quickly!
 

LNW-GW Joint

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Just got back from a trip to Kyiv via Warsaw, Przemysl and Lviv.
The Hyundai-Rotem inter-city EMUs run on several routes radiating from Kyiv (not to occupied Donetsk/Luhansk obviously).
One place I noticed with several services was Vinnytsya SW of Kyiv, which is about a 3 hour trip.
It's on the route of the Odessa and one of the Lviv services, so runs several times a day.
I did Przemysl-Lviv on one, but the buffet was closed and only took Ukrainian currency anyway (which I didn't have at the time).
The UZ site can sell you e-tickets for long distance trains: https://booking.uz.gov.ua/en/

Most of the long distance trains are loco-hauled sleepers, though, converted to day use.
For 2nd class this gives you a rather narrow compartment with bench seats for 6 (and possibly someone sleeping in the top bunk!).
The "Borispil Airport" train is a 2-car DMU running hourly from P14 at Kyiv, fare 80 UAH (£3) for 30km.
The airport branch is a 2km unwired single track off the Kharkiv main line in the SE of the city.
You haven't said how you are getting to Kyiv, but if by air, the low-cost guys (Ryanair etc) use Terminal D, which is a shuttle bus-ride from the main terminal F used by BA and the main airlines (and where the train is). Bus every 30 minutes.
I used terminal D to depart, very easy really, but note there are no shops or duty free there - just a couple of coffee outlets.

The metro in Kyiv is impressive, very deep stations with faster escalators than we are used to.
Fare for every trip metro/tram/bus is 8 UAH (30p) with a very easy smartcard system for multiple journeys.
In the few hours I had I visited several orthodox cathedrals with golden domes, plus the Golden Gate and an excellent performance of Carmen at the Opera.
Thought about paying my respects at Babi Yar (WW2 massacre site) in the NW of the city, but ran out of time.
Kyiv/Ukraine is indeed a fascinating place, rail and otherwise.
I can also say it felt a good deal safer late at night than many western European cities including some of our own.
You can pay for almost anything by card, but I never found an ATM which coughed up more then 200 UAH in cash (about £6).

One good planning site is https://www.eway.in.ua/en/cities/kyiv
It's a bit like flightradar, but for public transport.
It shows all the routes and where all the vehicles are.
Apart from metro/trams etc there is also a circular heavy rail route around the city which should also cost just the 8 UAH.
 
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Aictos

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The above posts look quite informative BUT what is it like for non Ukrainian speaking visitors? Did you find issues with the language barrier? Do many speak English? I wouldn’t mind a visit myself but my lack of speaking or reading Ukrainian is off putting hence asking questions.
 

oldman

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Most of the long distance trains are loco-hauled sleepers, though, converted to day use.
For 2nd class this gives you a rather narrow compartment with bench seats for 6 (and possibly someone sleeping in the top bunk!).
You can pay for almost anything by card, but I never found an ATM which coughed up more then 200 UAH in cash (about £6).
I used the day-time Kyiv-Lviv-Ivano-Frankivsk (which returns overnight). The compartments were labelled with different seat numbering according to how they were used.
upload_2019-9-29_15-50-20.png
There were only two people in my compartment (Lviv to IF) so we got a free upgrade to first class! The use of sleeping cars means you can't see out on the corridor side.

Arriving at Lviv from Przemyśl I found just one ATM (limit 2000 UAH) with a massive queue, but if you go out the main entrance and across a building site there are shops and exchange offices with good rates for euros and even GBPs a short distance away. This means you can get small notes which is useful - Ukrainian cashiers hate giving change.
 

LNW-GW Joint

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Yes, you have to watch the seat allocations.
My e-ticket had a 13 on it so I found a compartment with #13 in it, only to find myself turfed out as the proper colour-coded day seat #13 was next door!
Lviv station is currently chaotic as they are rebuilding the tram terminus outside.
The station has impressive architecture but is very dark and it took a while to find the ATM.
You are right about the shops outside, they seem to have lots of products and services that aren't at all obvious at first sight.
The trams from the station are replaced by erratic buses, but running on different routes to the trams (which are themselves running different routes to normal).
I proffered a 20 Hr note for the 5 Hr fare and got 4 tickets back from the driver rather than 1 ticket and some change!
I think I got the reverse of your train from Lviv to Kyiv, and it's the one that has through sleepers from Vienna and Wroclaw.
The episode with the seat allocation broke the ice in the compartment though, and I was able to have a long and interesting conversation with a teacher of English, for the whole of the 6-hour run to Kyiv!
 

Dougal2345

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I would say choose first class for anything long distance unless you're on a really tight budget. I took a first class daytime sleeper from Odessa to Lviv, only one other person to share the compartment with (she was gorgeous and completely ignored me) and when the scenery got boring (out of the window, I mean) you could lie down and nap.

The smartcard system for the Kiev Metro must be new, last year I bought handfuls of little plastic discs.

I never had any problems with ATM's, I knew my hotel in Kiev didn't take cards and was going to demand cash payment on arrival so I had to draw out quite a bit.
 

LNW-GW Joint

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The above posts look quite informative BUT what is it like for non Ukrainian speaking visitors? Did you find issues with the language barrier? Do many speak English? I wouldn’t mind a visit myself but my lack of speaking or reading Ukrainian is off putting hence asking questions.

I actually found it easier than, say, Italy, where few local people seem to speak English and transport information is abysmal.
I do have a smattering of Russian and can decode the Cyrillic alphabet (slowly!), but Ukrainian is not the same language even though it looks the same.
In Kyiv the buses/metro all have English/latin PIS and signage as well as Ukrainian, so not an issue.
All the hotel people speak English and are keen to use it, and it was no trouble navigating Domino's Pizza.
Most maps have street names in both scripts.

The smartcard system for the Kiev Metro must be new, last year I bought handfuls of little plastic discs.

I think it's new this year.
You can still buy tokens at the booking office, but there are machines (English option) where you can buy the smartcard (50 Hry) and then top it up with cash for travel, all with wave and pay.
You tap the card on entry (metro, bus, trolley-bus, marshrutka), much like Oyster.
There are ticket machines at Kyiv Pas where you can buy tickets for the airport train (80 Hry).
The station is double-sided with both a long bridge and underpass across it (both have useful shops and take-aways), and the newer western entrance has a quieter ticket office than that at the main station eastern/city entrance.
I bought my long-distance e-tickets online in advance at the UZ site.
 

Iskra

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Thanks everyone for the fantastic information. I'll let you know what I end up booking. And yes, I'm planning to visit the aviation museum and I may as well do the railway one too if it is next to the station. I'm going to do the train from the airport to the centre too :)
 

F Great Eastern

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For the Boryspil Airport to Kyiv express train you can buy tickets from a ticket machine with debit and credit cards in English at the main terminal in the airport. They can be found in the front right corner of the terminal as you enter the terminal from the baggage reclaim.

In the main train station, Kyiv Passazhirskiy, there's also the same ticket machines that you can buy tickets with in English, located adjacent to the lounge for the service. The ticket gives you admission to the small Airport Express lounge which has seats, tables, universal charging points and some wall displays in English about Ukraine and a little childrens play area.

Also note that the Metro now supports contactless debit/credit cards. These are normally the yellow turnstiles at the gateline. Note that normally only 2 or 3 of the turnstiles per gateline have this faculty so you will have to look for the Visa and Mastercard sign on the turnstiles.

And lastly, if you spend any significant time in the station, you'll hear "Dear passengers, your attention please" in your head a fair bit.
 

class26

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It's definitely quite reasonable to have a day trip to Kharkiv, in the east of the country. It's a beautiful destination, and the 4h49m rail journey is pleasant, and fast (unless it breaks down).

The trains are South Korean built Hyundai-Rotem EMUs, from 2012. They have 3x First Class carriage with very spacious 2+2 seating, and 6x Second Class carriage with reasonably good 2+3 seating. First class is worth paying the extra for, as you get a lot of space. A return in First Class would be about £50.

Your outward journey would feature the 0645 from Kiev to Kharkiv, arriving at 1134. This is a train service branded as InterCity+, and it appears to be successful, with trains normally being quite busy (reservation is, sadly, compulsory). Buffet and trolley available, and WiFi is also available, but it is shocking (you won't be complaining about WiFi on trains in the UK again, that's for sure). You can expect to see 100mph a few times on this route - really impressive!

The return journey would be the 1838 departure from Kharkiv to Kiev, arriving at 2327. This would also be an InterCity+ train, modern and fast.

It's a long day, but of course you have the choice of catching a UZ sleeper train back. And there is a lot of choice, with four sleeper trains being available.

Here are a few pictures from my experience doing the journey described above, which broke down, an experience in and of itself!

The unit standing proud in Kiev.
View attachment 68872

Amazing elevated curves, let you see the route ahead.
View attachment 68873

Broken down here...
View attachment 68874

That's not looking good.
View attachment 68875

Everyone has decided to get off the train here.
View attachment 68876

The stylish front of my train.
View attachment 68877

Train of questionable integrity overtaking our train on the wrong line.
View attachment 68878

Interesting photo opportunities must be taken.
View attachment 68879

The problem was quite severe.
View attachment 68880

Thankfully, Ukrainian maintenance genius to the rescue, and we were fixed up within 90 minutes.
View attachment 68881

Absolutely right about the Korean trains but I would not suggest Kharkiv but alternately Lviv in the west. This is the most beautiful city in Ukraine without any doubt and I would call it the new Krakow. It has similar architecture to krakow and was the eastern most city of the Habsburg empire (called Lemberg in those days) You need to get the non stop express. Lviv is slightly further away from Kyiv than Kharkiv but you will not regret going there.
Lots of Viennese coffee and cake shops (except at about 10% of the Viennese price !) Lviv is arguably the last real gem of Europe waitign to be discovered. My wife is UKrainian so if you want any more info let me know (Oh, and the women are to die for !)
 

class26

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The above posts look quite informative BUT what is it like for non Ukrainian speaking visitors? Did you find issues with the language barrier? Do many speak English? I wouldn’t mind a visit myself but my lack of speaking or reading Ukrainian is off putting hence asking questions.

Many of the younger generation do speak English. You should be Ok in the cities, in the smaller towns maybe more difficult but the people are charming. Just go !
 

Aictos

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Many of the younger generation do speak English. You should be Ok in the cities, in the smaller towns maybe more difficult but the people are charming. Just go !

Cheers that is reassuring, thank you!
 

Aictos

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Pleasure. As I said above my wife is Ukrainian so do ask if you want any more info

PM sent wity some questions, the only former East European country I’ve been is Tallinn and that was a eye opener!
 

class26

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PM sent wity some questions, the only former East European country I’ve been is Tallinn and that was a eye opener!

Estonia is well developed when compared to Ukraine ! Ukraine since independence in the early 90`s has been torn over which direction to take ie towards russia or europe. The present conflict in the east of the country was sparked in 2014 when the then president went to an eu meeting to sign a new treaty with the eu. Ukraine was and is still on a path towards accession. There are 4 stages and this was to be the 3rd stage. If you speak to locals in Kyiv they are sick to the back teeth of corruption and see europe as their salvation. I know people here in the UK speak of corruption in europe and even in the UK but what happens in europe is a kids tea party when compared to ex soviet states. The people know that there are only 2 directions to go and russia is the wrong one. It is corrupt from top down.

Off president goes to meeting but comes back having NOT signed. Apparently during the weekend conference he had a one hour phone call to putin and afterwards pulled the plug. After news spread the people took to the streets and that was the beginning of the revolution which culminated a few months later with said president being ousted and putin sending in "little green men" as he is terrified of having a successful Ukraine importing european values into russia. that would be the end of him and his henchmens plundering of russian assets.
If you are in Kyiv with time do go to his ex residence. It is called Mezhyhirya
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attra...idence_Museum-Novi_Petrivtsi_Kiev_Oblast.html

This alone will show you how corrupt the place was. It is now open as a park and museum. Bear in mind the official salary of the president was $100,000 a year yet the bill for chandeliers alone was $34,000,000 ! This was to be his private house, not state provided so should have been built with his own money. There were 800 persons working on the construction of this place and they were sworn to secrecy as of course there would have been outrage if this got out. the people live in poverty whilst their president adorns himself in this bling.
Money to build it was syphoned off from the construction of Kyiv children`s hospital and many other far better deserving causes That`s what i mean by corruption. I could go on for hours but you would be bored This place is only just outside Kyiv, there are regular excursions and its worth going.
You can also go to Chernobyl if you wish. That`s eerie but safe now.
But the best city in Ukraine without doubt is Lviv near the Polish border. You can get ryan air flights for next to nothing at the moment.
 

LNW-GW Joint

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On my trip I clocked the daytime sleeper train I was on (Lviv-Kyiv via Korosten) at 130km/h (80mph) for quite long distances.
So this seems to be the regular line speed in Ukraine.
The Hyundai-Rotem day EMUs seem to do the trip in about half an hour less, but I don't know if that is with a higher line speed or faster acceleration.
Speeds are quite low through junctions and station complexes, but trains generally seem to average about 60mph.
I did see a couple of military trains fully loaded with tanks, personnel carriers and ambulances...

All the locos I saw were Soviet-era.
The massive double-unit diesels had a CCCP plate saying they were built in 1988 at the October Revolution works in Voroshilovgrad (now Luhansk in eastern Ukraine).
This factory apparently had all the diesel loco construction in Soviet times (including exports to the eastern bloc).
I think Ukraine is turning to GE for new motive power.

I studied some maps/history before going, and I was intrigued that there was still extensive infrastructure between Brody and Radyvyliv, which was the rail border between what was Austrian Galicia and the Russian Empire before 1918 and therefore when the railway was built in the 1860s.
It also used to be the changeover point between standard/broad gauge and left/right hand running, hence all the infrastructure in the apparent middle of nowhere.
The Galician railway (from Krakow via Przemysl and Lviv) was called the Carl Ludwig Bahn (CLB), father of the unfortunate Franz Ferdinand.
Some details here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galician_Railway_of_Archduke_Charles_Louis
I think on the Russian side it was the South Western Railway.
I found Mike Ball's European Railway Atlas very useful during the trip (particularly the regional series which includes Poland and Baltics/Belarus/Ukraine volumes).
 

dutchflyer

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its very, very cold then-or usually is, or should be.
Day trips with similar Hitachis can be done to f.e. Vinnitsa (about 2,5-3 hrs), with old 2nd h ex-Zurich trams and trolley's.
Or to Poltava, halfway to Kharkiv. Both cities have extensive trolleybussystems.
But somehow all UKR cities look very much alike, just the order of things is a little different and the amount of what to see is very small. Imagine then there are many more nearly as large cities without any real sight.............
in general only those that were under Polish/Austrian/Hungarian rule for longer time tend to have a little interest.
Kharkiv is mostly stalinist style ''brutish'' architecture, partly in ''sugarcake'' style.
You can do longer trips as about any UKR by travel overnight-if never ever used, one should het to know the kupey/platskart-coaches, read seat61. And DO reserve online advance and also reckon with the other dates they have for XMas-oriental religion.
 

class26

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its very, very cold then-or usually is, or should be.
Day trips with similar Hitachis can be done to f.e. Vinnitsa (about 2,5-3 hrs), with old 2nd h ex-Zurich trams and trolley's.
Or to Poltava, halfway to Kharkiv. Both cities have extensive trolleybussystems.
But somehow all UKR cities look very much alike, just the order of things is a little different and the amount of what to see is very small. Imagine then there are many more nearly as large cities without any real sight.............
in general only those that were under Polish/Austrian/Hungarian rule for longer time tend to have a little interest.
Kharkiv is mostly stalinist style ''brutish'' architecture, partly in ''sugarcake'' style.
You can do longer trips as about any UKR by travel overnight-if never ever used, one should het to know the kupey/platskart-coaches, read seat61. And DO reserve online advance and also reckon with the other dates they have for XMas-oriental religion.

You are right , all Ukraine cities look fairly similar but there is one exception to that which is Lviv which is stunningly beautiful and not much soviet architecture. It really has to be seen. It is closer in style to Krakow in Poland and in many ways they are sister citiesas Lvov (Lwow) was in Poland up to the last war
The other charming UKrainian city, albeit smaller than Lviv is Poltava.
 

Iskra

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By way of update; I have booked a day trip from Kiev-Lviv using IC+ day trains in 1st class. 12 hours of first class travel was £50 including 2 hot drinks and a meal. It only gives me 5 hours in Lviv but I feel that should be enough and the rail journey looks an interesting one. I looked at sleeper trains but they were slower and more expensive. Thank you to all who provided advice.
 

superalbs

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By way of update; I have booked a day trip from Kiev-Lviv using IC+ day trains in 1st class. 12 hours of first class travel was £50 including 2 hot drinks and a meal. It only gives me 5 hours in Lviv but I feel that should be enough and the rail journey looks an interesting one. I looked at sleeper trains but they were slower and more expensive. Thank you to all who provided advice.
Have fun, and hopefully yours won't break down like mine did!

I see you are travelling in January. Winter cold times is when the UZ HRCS2 trains are most susceptible to faults it seems, good luck. Hopefully they've fixed them by now.
 

Iskra

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Have fun, and hopefully yours won't break down like mine did!

I see you are travelling in January. Winter cold times is when the UZ HRCS2 trains are most susceptible to faults it seems, good luck. Hopefully they've fixed them by now.

Yes, I was just reading about their winter troubles on their Wikipedia page, but surely they've sorted them out by now? It's not the end of the world if my 5 hours gets eaten into. I'm as much interested in the journey as the destination and I won't make specific plans in case of delays.
 

Iskra

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