Ukrzaliznytsia accused of artificially blocking ticket sales
1 March 06:12
Ukrainian public figure and co-coordinator of the Prosty Svobody (Freedom Space) movement Taras Shamayda has publicly criticized the work of Ukrzaliznytsia’s ticket sales system, claiming that seats on certain routes from intermediate stations are being artificially blocked. He announced this on social media, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
In his post, he called on the company to explain the situation with ticket purchases for a number of routes:
“Dear Ukrzaliznytsia, when will you stop this mockery? It is simply impossible to buy a ticket for the night train 134 from Khmelnytskyi to Kyiv, even in the first minute after sales open. And not because there are no tickets available.”
According to Shamaida, since sales opened, the system has shown a complete lack of seats, although they are actually available from the starting station of the route.
“Since sales opened at 8:00 a.m., your system has been showing that ‘someone has already purchased all tickets’ for March 19 on this train from Khmelnytskyi to Kyiv. But no one has purchased them; you simply do not allow them to be purchased. At the same time, it is easy to buy tickets for this same train from the starting station, Kamianets-Podilskyi, where there are plenty of them,” he explains.
He describes a similar situation in the opposite direction.
The public figure claims that this is not an isolated case, but a systemic practice that covers dozens of flights across the country.
“You know very well that the same thing is happening with dozens of trains across the country. You are artificially blocking ticket sales to or from intermediate stations on most trains that are convenient for people. You are not just allocating a small number of seats for sale to these stations, but blocking them altogether, not issuing a single seat from the first second of sale. This is blatant swinishness, and double so,” the author claims.
In his opinion, this practice has at least two negative consequences for passengers:
“First, you are forcing people to overpay. And even if tickets for some trains are very cheap, it is definitely not the passengers’ fault. And secondly, many people simply do not know about your scheme, do not study your routes, and simply think that there are no tickets at all, so they do not buy them even to/from distant stations, and generally get there who knows how.”
Shamayda called on the company to review its approach to seat allocation and ensure transparent and equal access to ticket purchases.
UZ resellers
This is not the first time that UZ has been embroiled in a scandal over the availability of train tickets.
Ukrainians on social media began to complain en masse about problems with buying tickets for Ukrzaliznytsia trains. They say that immediately after sales open 20 days before the planned trip, the app stops working. After the “technical problems” are resolved, tickets can no longer be purchased—they are all sold out. Previously, difficulties in purchasing tickets arose only for international flights, in particular from Kyiv to Chisinau or Warsaw. Now, problems arise even when purchasing tickets for trains within Ukraine, in particular to Mukachevo, Uzhhorod, Odesa, etc.
In order to find out why the app constantly reports a “technical failure,” tickets are sold out almost instantly, and how exactly UZ is fighting possible scalpers, the editorial office sent a request to Ukrzaliznytsia, but has not yet received a response.
As a reminder, the State Audit Service of Ukraine plans to launch a state financial control measure at JSC Ukrzaliznytsia in March 2026.
