New fares and ticket refund rules: what Ukrzaliznytsia has in store
6 February 05:27
Ukrzaliznytsia, together with the Ministry of Community Development, has prepared a package of changes to passenger transport regulations. According to Ukrzaliznytsia, the changes concern the introduction of dynamic pricing for premium tickets, as well as updates to ticket refund conditions, reports "Komersant Ukrainian".
The company emphasizes that the innovations should bring Ukrainian railways closer to European practices and make the tariff policy more flexible and predictable.
Dynamic pricing: who will be affected by the changes
It is planned that the cost of tickets in the premium segment will be determined based on several factors:
- season;
- day of the week;
- date of ticket purchase;
- the actual occupancy level of the train.
This approach is widely used by most European railway companies and airlines.
At the same time, dynamic pricing will not apply to all categories of passengers. The changes will only affect:
- SV (luxury) carriages on domestic routes;
- 1st class Intercity trains within Ukraine.
Travel in open-plan carriages, compartments, and 2nd class Intercity trains on domestic routes will remain at the current fares.
Tariff increases on international trains
Separately, there are plans to index the cost of travel in SV carriages on international trains. Starting in April, prices in this segment will increase by approximately 20%.
Ukrzaliznytsia explains that seats in SV carriages are traditionally sold out the fastest and are in consistently high demand, which was the reason for the fare review.
New ticket refund rules
Another important innovation is the update of the conditions for refunding tickets. The company proposes to introduce a differentiated scale, where the refund amount will depend on how long before departure the passenger cancels their trip.
The proposed scale will look like this:
- 15–20 days before departure — 100% of the ticket price will be refunded;
- 10–14 days — 90%;
- 5–9 days — 75%;
- 1–4 days before departure — 50% refund;
- less than 24 hours before departure — an average of 30%, as per the current rules.
Important: these conditions will apply to all ticket categories and all types of carriages, not just the premium segment.
For whom the rules will not change
There are exceptions. The new conditions will not apply to:
- to military personnel;
- socially vulnerable groups of passengers, including persons with disabilities;
- to trains running in the direction of frontline territories.
Thus, the changes should minimize social risks and not complicate access to transportation for those who need it most.
