Ukraine Gets Two New International Night Train Connections
Ukraine is set to expand its international rail links with new night train connections to Chisinau and Budapest beginning this month.
New Chisinau-Lviv night train
Of the new night trains being launched by Ukrzaliznytsia, the Ukrainian Railways, the connection between the Moldovan capital of Chisinau and the city of Lviv in Western Ukraine is perhaps the most interesting one.
The Chisinau-Lviv night train actually consists of through coaches that are attached to different trains along the route, such as the Kyiv-Chisinau night train and the Lviv-Zaporizhzhia night train.
This night train departs from Chisinau at 17:34 with coaches for both Kyiv and Lviv, with the Lviv coaches being decoupled once in Ukraine and attached to another train, which arrives in Lviv the following day at 15:40, after a total journey time of 22 hours and 6 minutes.
In the opposite direction, the train departs from Lviv at 15:00 and arrives in Chisinau the following day at 11:30.
The Chisinau-Lviv night train crosses the Moldovan-Ukrainian border between Velchynets and Mohyliv-Podilskyi.
The Chisinau-Lviv train offers only 2nd class sleeper carriages (4-berth Kupé) and departs every second day in each direction.
The Warsaw-Kyiv express, another popular international train connection to Ukraine. ©AndyBTravels
New night train from Budapest to Kyiv
Another new international night train connection will link the Hungarian capital of Budapest with Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.
Although both capitals were already connected by the Vienna-Kyiv night train, which passes through Budapest on its long route to Ukraine, this new train provides much-needed additional capacity on the route.
Called the ‘Transcarpathia,’ this night train departs Budapest (Keleti station) at 22:40 and arrives the following day in Kyiv at 19:11.
In the reverse direction, this sleeper train departs Kyiv at 10:16 and arrives in Budapest at 06:00 the following day.
The Budapest-Kyiv night train will offer both 2nd class sleeper carriages (4-berth Kupé) and 1st class sleeper carriages (2-berth Spalny Vagon, or SV).
Note that many more connections are available between Hungary and Ukraine if you’re willing to change trains, as there are multiple daytime services each day from Budapest to Chop and Mukachevo, where you can easily connect to a domestic Ukrainian night train.
A 2-berth Spalny Vagon (SV) compartment on a night train in Ukraine. ©AndyBTravels
Buying tickets
Tickets for these new international night train connections to and from Ukraine can be easily bought online through the Ukrzaliznytsia website.
Ukrainian train tickets go on sale 20 days before the departure date, so these trains won’t appear in search results if you look for a travel date too far in advance.
Given that international flight traffic to Ukraine is still not possible, these international night trains are incredibly popular and book out quickly.
It is therefore advisable not to wait until the last moment to book your ticket.
Unfortunately they can only be easily bought through Ukrzaliznytsia (website or app) if you have the Diia authentication app, which isn’t possible to use any longer unless you are Ukrainian or live in Ukraine.
MAV allows booking, but I appear to have ended up with a ticket (having selected a single sleeper) that has no allocated wagon or berth. MAV cannot explain what they have actually sold me and need a month(!) to investigate, for a train that leaves in 17 days. Not very useful.