Ukraine
A note on travelling to Ukraine. Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022 and the war continues. Ukrainian Railways is still running scheduled services and has moved millions of people throughout it, but the country is under martial law, air-raid alerts are a normal part of the day, and most governments advise against travel to Ukraine or to parts of it.
These pages describe the railway and its history. Anyone weighing an actual journey will want current official advice from their own government, which changes far faster than this site can. Last reviewed September 2026.
Ukraine is the second-largest country in Europe, 603,550 km² reaching from the Carpathians in the west to the Donets basin in the east, and from the Belarusian forests down to the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. It borders Russia, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova. Kyiv, on the Dnieper, is the capital. Most of the country is steppe and some of the most fertile farmland on earth; the only serious mountains are the Carpathians in the far south-west, where the railway has to climb.
The network is 1,520 mm broad gauge, worked by the state operator Ukrzaliznytsia, and it is one of the busiest passenger railways in Europe. Long-distance sleepers rather than day trains are the norm, because the distances are continental. Since 2022 that railway has also become something else — an evacuation service, a supply line and the way heads of state reach Kyiv — while continuing to publish a timetable and sell tickets online.
Rail journeys in Ukraine
The Carpathian Tram
A 750 mm logging railway laid in 1890 and still running out of Vyhoda: three hours up the Mizunka valley into the Gorgany forest and back.
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Košice to Mukachevo
A two-car Slovak railbus from Košice through the Tokaj hills to Mukachevo, on standard-gauge track laid deep into broad-gauge Ukraine.
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Kyiv to Vienna
A Ukrainian sleeping car from Kyiv to Vienna with no change of train — its bogies are swapped at the border for Europe's narrower gauge.
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Lviv to Uzhhorod
Ukraine's one daylight Carpathian crossing: Lviv to Uzhhorod in 5h29, under the tunnel that carries most of its rail trade with the EU.
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Ivano-Frankivsk to Rakhiv
Over the Carpathian watershed from Ivano-Frankivsk to Rakhiv, past Vorokhta's Austro-Hungarian stone viaducts — two of which still carry the train.
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Are Ukraine's trains running?
Yes. Ukrainian Railways has kept a scheduled network working throughout the war, publishes timetables and sells tickets online, and its own newsroom in March 2026 described continuing European Union support for its operational resilience under attack on the infrastructure. Services are subject to disruption, and any specific train needs checking with the operator rather than with a page like this one.
Where are the best train journeys in Ukraine?
In the west, in and around the Carpathians. Lviv to Uzhhorod crosses the Beskids by day, and Ivano-Frankivsk to Rakhiv passes the Austro-Hungarian stone viaducts at Vorokhta. Out of Vyhoda, the Carpathian Tram still runs visitors up a 750 mm logging railway. Two trains cross the frontier: a Slovak railbus from Košice to Mukachevo on standard-gauge track, and a sleeping car from Kyiv to Vienna whose bogies are swapped at the border.
Why does the gauge matter at the Polish border?
Because it changes. Ukraine uses 1,520 mm broad gauge and Poland uses 1,435 mm standard gauge, so a through train either changes its bogies at the frontier or passengers change trains. It is one of the more visible pieces of railway engineering a traveller in the region encounters, and it adds substantially to journey times westward.
Is there an Interrail or Eurail pass for Ukraine?
Interrail sells no one-country pass for Ukraine. Tickets are bought directly from Ukrainian Railways, and its own booking system is the authority on what is running and what a seat or berth costs.
What kind of trains are they?
Predominantly long-distance, and predominantly overnight. Ukraine is large enough that the sleeper is the ordinary way to travel between major cities rather than a novelty, with berths in compartments of varying class. Faster daytime Intercity services link Kyiv with the larger regional centres.