Warsaw-Lviv train route returns after 18 years

A train service between the Polish capital of Warsaw and Ukrainian city of Lviv will begin running again next week for the first time in 18 years.

The line, which will launch on 15 October, will run daily and can carry almost 500 passengers in each direction. The journey from Lviv to Warsaw will take almost 10 hours and the return journey around nine hours.

Part of that time will be taken up by passengers having to switch trains in Rava-Ruska, a Ukrainian town around 10km from the border, because of differences in the width of tracks in the two countries.

The train service is being launched as a cooperation between Ukrzaliznytsia, Ukraine’s state rail operator, and SKPL, a private Polish operator. The latter firm will operate the trains running between Warsaw and Rava-Ruska.

The service as a whole, however, is formally operated by Ukrzaliznytsia and it will not be possible to purchase tickets for travel on the line only within Polish borders, reports industry news service Rynek Kolejowy.

“It took us more than six months to implement this project, in particular, to agree all the details with the Polish side and to open the checkpoint,” said Yevhen Lashchenko, chairman of Ukrzaliznytsia’s board of directors. “From now on, 10 more localities in Ukraine will be connected by rail to Warsaw and Lublin.”

In practice, the train will begin its journey 200 kilometres south of Lviv in Kolomyia, from where it will set off at 4.20 am Ukrainian time (GMT+3). It will travel through Ivano-Frankivsk, Kalush, Dolyna, Morshyn and Stryi, arriving at 8.30 am in Lviv and at 9.58 am in Rava Ruska, reports Nasz Wybór, a news service for Ukrainians in Poland.

This will be followed by an hour-long break during the transfer to the train running from Rava-Ruska to Warsaw. The change is necessary because Ukrainian trains run on a 1520mm gauge, while Polish trains, as in other parts of Europe, run on a 1435mm gauge.

“Passengers should not worry about possible delays as the transfer has been agreed. The train will always be waiting for all passengers,” said Ukrzaliznytsia on its Telegram channel.

The SKPL-operated train will depart from Rava-Ruska at 10.30 am and will stop in Lublin at 2.55 pm Polish time (GMT+2). It will end its route at the Warszawa East station at 5.29 pm. The return train will depart from the same station at 9.45 pm and will arrive in Lviv at 7.45 am the next day.

Train tickets are already on sale both via the Ukrzaliznytsia website and app. In the latter case, however, a Ukrainian phone number is required for registration.

Poland is home to around two million Ukrainians, including both economic migrants and refugees who have arrived since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to the Polish border guard, about 40,000 people currently cross the Polish-Ukrainian border in both directions each day.

A handful of train services between Poland and Ukraine already exist, including connections running between Kyiv and Przemyśl, Kharkiv and Przemyśl and Kyiv and Chełm.

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Main image credit: Ukrzaliznytsia / Facebook

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.