State railway demonstrates new passenger wagons
Ukrzaliznytsiya, the state-owned railway company, demonstrated some of its newly-refurbished passenger wagons on Feb. 10 in Kyiv. The exhibition was attended by Transportation and Communication Minister Yosyp Vinsky, who said the railway will be investing new energy into improving the service for all classes of passengers. “When a person pays money, he should travel in comfortable conditions,” he said. New features in the economy class wagon shown above include what are intended to be cozy new curtains. However, many questioned the practicality of introducing such kitsch curtains in train wagons. One concern is that they can accumulate dust and create an impression of less room in the wagon. Ukrzaliznytsya, which is cash-strapped in part due to its below market fees for transport services provided for citizens, is struggling to revamp its Soviet-built railway system ahead of 2012. Ukraine and Poland are to jointly host the Union of European Football Association’s Euro 2012 soccer tournament.
