Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Tickets
»
Tickets are still relatively cheap.
»
Ticket clerks don't speak English, so get a local to write down what you need.
»
When buying tickets you need to know your destination, number of tickets required,
class of carriage and the date of travel.
»
You are supposed to show your passport when buying tickets.
»
Several cities, such as Kyiv and Lviv, have advance ticket offices in the city centres.
»
So-called 'service centres' are comfortable, Western-style ticket offices found at big-city
stations. Tickets cost slightly more here, but there's no queue.
»
Never buy tickets from touts.
Information
ONLINE
Ukrainian Railways
(
www.uz.gov.ua
) The official Ukrainian Railway website, now in Eng-
lish.
Poezda.net
(
www.poezda.net
) This online timetable for the entire ex-USSR is available in
English. The search facility uses some perverse spellings for town names (eg Ujgorod for
Uzhhorod, Harkov for Kharkiv), but is still pretty good.
Seat 61
(
www.seat61.com/Ukraine.htm
)
Worth checking out, especially if you're planning
to enter Ukraine by rail.
AT THE STATION
»
Strictly Russian- or Ukrainian-speaking attendants in information booths (
dovidkove by-
uro
) are frequently surly and uncooperative.
»
There's a small charge for any information that staff write down.
»
Schedules are posted on the wall - once you have mastered some basic words, they're
simple to decipher.
»
You may find railway timetables in business catalogues, posted in hotels and occasion-
ally at bus stations.
