More than 8 million passengers traveled on Ukrainian Railways' trains between January and April 2024, indicating a 25% person increase compared to 2023, the company reported on May 2.
Ukraine's state-owned railway company, Ukrzaliznytsia, announced on Twitter that a total of 8.43 million passengers traveled on Ukrainian Railways' trains between January and April 2024. Around 6.78 million passengers traveled through Ukrainian Railways during the same time frame in 2023. Additionally, Ukrzaliznytsia reported that 93% of the company's domestic trains arrived on time.
Throughout the full-scale invasion, Ukraine's state-owned railway has played a significant role in maintaining interstate and domestic travel. The airspace above Ukraine has remained closed since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, meaning that road or rail travel is required to enter or exit Ukraine.
Ukrzaliznytsia operates services to Warsaw, Chelm, and Przemysl in Poland, Vienna in Austria, and Chisinau in Moldova. Trains also run to Chop, a town on the border with Hungary, allowing passengers to connect with trains to Budapest.
In total, the company transported 25 million passengers in long-distance trains in 2023.
However, Ukrzaliznytsia has been subject to majorcorruption investigations in the past two years. Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) recently announced that seven individuals, including a former presidential advisor, associated with the company are accused of having embezzled Hr 95 million ($2.4 million) from Ukrzaliznytsia.
Read also: Ukrainian Railways initiates construction of major European routes