Passenger railway communication with EU to be expanded

"On December 23, 2016, the Intercity+ Kyiv-Lviv-Przemysl train was launched. This route has become very popular among Ukrainian passengers. Ukrzaliznytsia is looking into the possibility of launching the second pair of Kyiv-Lviv-Przemysl trains by another route (through Vinnytsia, Khmelnytsky and Ternopil). The total population of the cities of Vinnytsia, Khmelnytsky and Ternopil (with agglomerations) exceeds one million people, which means that for one million Ukrainians Europe will become more accessible," the minister said at a briefing in Kyiv. According to the minister, convenient transfers in all regions will connect the entire country to this Polish route. In addition, it will be possible to attract passenger traffic from Moldova. Several more routes are planned to Poland this year, according to Omelyan. "Until the end of the year, the Ukraine-EU rail traffic will service at least 100,000 passengers per month. Przemysl and Chelm have formed hubs for further connection with other cities in Poland and Europe," the minister said. Omelyan also announced "The Train of Five Capitals" project, which is aimed at connecting five capitals of Europe by rail: Kyiv (Ukraine) – Minsk (Belarus) – Vilnius (Lithuania) – Riga (Latvia) – Tallinn (Estonia) with a possible extension to Odesa to connect the route to the Baltic and Black Seas.