Ukrzaliznytsya’s latest unveiled trick is online ticket booking. But more meaningful changes will take years.
Ukrzaliznytsya, the state-owned railway monopoly, still seems stuck in the slow lane in getting train service up to modern standards. As Western Europe expands development of a high-speed rail network, outdated Soviet-era legacies remain everywhere in Ukraine.
Travelers can easily tick off the list of improvements they’d like to see: More comfort, faster trains, easier-to-purchase tickets to avoid the long lines at the railway station, proper toilets and better cleanliness.
Modest improvements have been made in recent years to Ukrainian train travel, including nine express trains – with faster speeds (up to 140 kilometers per hour, compared to 55-60 on average) and fewer stops – from Kyiv to several major cities. The monopoly also announced on March 31 that it introduced online ticket sales. But the service wasn’t working by the time this edition of the Kyiv Post went to press.
Still to come is the sale of electronic tickets for all types of transport, as well as the launch of automated self-service machines, the Transportation Ministry said. The plan is to open 5,000-6,000 automatic outlets by the end of 2009. However, Ukrzaliznytsya is not yet quite sure how this will be implemented.
The option of checking ticket availability and prices online (if you are traveling from Kyiv) has been available for some time on the railway’s website, www.uz.gov.ua. The cost of bed linen in overnight trains is now included in the price of tickets these days, ending a whole era of disputes with train attendants over its cost.
The online booking service that was introduced last year costs Hr 20, and can be paid with a major credit card at http://www.e-kvytok.com.ua/wps/portal. To do that, you have to register on the website. However, until online ticket sales start, the booked tickets have to be bought at a ticket window during the timeframe indicated at the end of the booking procedure. In any case, the maximum time is two days.
Buying still means a trip to the ticket window. The advantage to online booking is that the customer can avoid standing in line and go to a separate window to make the purchase.
“It’s fine with me. I don’t travel [by train] that often. Sometimes I book tickets online, then I don’t have to stand in the line,” said Serhiy Honcharov, a systems administrator interviewed by the Kyiv Post at the railway station.
The additional benefit to online booking is the ability to see all options of train routes, schedules and layout of carriages online – but only if you can read Ukrainian. You can also book a ticket up to 45 days in advance to save yourself from a second-class sleeping carriage, or ensure against the risk of a ticket sellout.
With these slim advantages, the online booking service has not become very popular. According to Ukrzaliznytsya, only 10 tickets are sold throughout Ukraine per day using online booking. But a lot of people visit the website, an Ukrzaliznytsya representative said.
Some say the nation is still not ready for online comfort and convenience in train travel. “Our people are not used to buying tickets online,” Dmytro Humenniy, an engineer mechanic, said. Humenniy said the habit of buying tickets in the traditional way – standing in line at the dingy and dimly lit railway station – dies hard.
“It’s not a problem for me to order tickets online,” he said. “But I got used to buying tickets at the railway station. If you come to the ticket window at a certain time [late at night or early in the morning], you can be lucky and not get stuck in line.”
Promotion is not the railway company’s strong suit. Many say they have never heard about the online booking option. “We didn’t know about this service,” said event manager Anna Hrinchyk. She and her husband prefer to not travel by train, except for long distances. “It is much more comfortable to travel by car,” she said.
Meanwhile, buying tickets at small travel agents’ outlets is becoming increasingly popular for avoiding traditional inconveniences. These places almost never trap customers in long lines, and addresses of such outlets are on the Ukrzaliznytsya site, but only in Ukrainian, of course. “[We buy tickets] not in central ticket windows, but in small windows,” said Roman Hrinchyk, Anna’s husband.
Euro 2012 – the European soccer championship to be co-hosted by Ukraine and Poland – may become a spur towards progress. By this summer, Ukrzaliznytsya – gearing up for the event expected to draw hundreds of thousands visitors – may have the bugs worked out of its online ticket sales operation. No word on when booking will become available in English, an option offered by many airlines.
With the economic crisis in full swing, people are travelling less on all modes of transportation, including trains. In the last two months, there were 3.1 million fewer travelers than the same months a year ago, an Ukrzaliznytsya representative said.
While airlines are cutting prices in an effort to offset plunging demand, Ukrzaliznytsya – whose prices are already subsidized by the state – have no such discount plans in mind.
To compensate for the loss of income from below-cost sale of tickets to citizens, the railway charges more for transportation of commercial cargo.
Even when subsidized, tickets are not cheap for the average traveler. To travel to Odesa by “kupey” (first class with four people to a compartment), the price is Hr 118 per passenger. To travel in a “lux” wagon with just two people in the compartment, the ticket price is Hr 570 apiece. To cover the cost of running the fleet of outdated and heavy wagons, ticket prices would have to be doubled, an unaffordable option for citizens, said a representative of Ukrzaliznytsya.
Meanwhile, Ukrainians still ride the same trains as they did in the Soviet Union, and little money is budgeted for upgrades. Since privatization is not even considered, modernization can be expected to be as slow as Ukraine’s trains.
