Ukrainians are selling out of seats for trains abroad: what you need to know to catch a ticket

In the absence of passenger air travel, the most popular way for Ukrainians to travel abroad is by train, the Kyiv-Warsaw train. There are many myths associated with buying scarce tickets for it, as well as for other international trains. However, there are clear rules for selling travel documents for all trains abroad.

OBOZ.UA figured out how to buy tickets for international trains easily and without nerves. We will also tell you how not to deal with intermediaries and when even a legal travel document can become a fine.

It all depends on the route: where to buy a train ticket abroad

Tickets for international trains are best purchased directly from Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ). There are several ways to buy a ticket for the desired train. Travel documents are available online:

• on the website of Ukrzaliznytsia;
• via the official UZ app;
• via chatbots in Viber, Telegram, Messenger, and Apple Messages;
• through the Diia app.

However, Ukrzaliznytsia does not sell tickets online for all destinations. For example, you can get to Hungary – Budapest and Záhony – by purchasing a travel document only through an offline ticket office. The same rule applies to traveling to the Slovak city of Cerna nad Tisou. On the contrary, to Vienna, Austria, tickets can be purchased exclusively through the UZ app.

There is one more important point. International e-tickets must be printed out, otherwise you will have to pay a fine. Travel documents in your smartphone are valid only on the territory of Ukraine. When traveling in, say, Hungary or Austria, you need to have a paper version.

The reason is that such trips are organized in partnership between UZ and foreign railways. You can print tickets at the station ticket office or at self-service machines at railway stations abroad.

Return tickets from EU countries to Ukraine should be searched on the websites of foreign railways. Polish Railways, for example, has a version in Ukrainian.

Kyiv – Warsaw train: there is a problem with tickets

Many passengers believe that it is impossible to buy a ticket for the most popular direct train from Kyiv to Warsaw. The fact is that seats on this flight are limited due to the specifics of RIC cars.

These cars can run on both Ukrainian and European routes. Their number in the UZ fleet is limited, so there are few seats.

The available tickets are redeemed very quickly, sometimes literally in minutes. To "catch" a free seat, it will not hurt to know that

• Ticket sales in the UZ app open 20 days before the travel date;
• tickets for this train to Poland become available at 9 am sharp (for other destinations – from 8 am).

If you are unable to buy tickets for a direct train, you can travel with a transfer. It's longer and often more expensive, but there are more chances: 28 trains are running internationally.

UZ international trains are available from Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Odesa, Kharkiv, Chop, and Mukachevo. They can be used to travel not only to Poland but also to Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, and Moldova. So, in addition to a direct train to Warsaw, you can get to the Polish cities of Chełm, Przemyśl, or Lublin and then change to any Polish train to Warsaw.

Tickets are hunted by fraudsters: how to avoid them

In addition to trains to Chełm or Przemyśl, you can also get to Warsaw via Lviv. This is the Lviv-Rava-Ruska-Warsaw train. However, seats on this train to Warsaw are usually completely sold out several weeks in advance.

UZ explains this by the high demand. However, passengers also say that there are bribe-takers on the train. On the Internet, you can find ads selling these tickets or offers from resellers who will allegedly help you catch tickets.

To prevent passengers from getting involved with fraudsters, UZ has come up with a defense. Now, to buy some tickets, you need to have the Diia app.

It is the app that is used to buy travel documents from Kyiv to Warsaw. You can issue them and even return them online only with Diia.Signature. To do this, you need to take a few steps:

• select a train in the UZ app;
• confirm your identity using Diia.Signature;
• enter passenger data (if the ticket is for yourself, you can click the button to transfer verification data, if for another person, enter it manually);
• pay for the ticket.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!