Slovakia and Ukraine have different track gauge, causing delays when it comes to train services. (source: SME - Marko Erd)
A direct train line between Košice and Kyiv could be set up by the end of the year under new government plans.
Currently, there is only one train line connecting Slovakia and Ukraine: the Košice-Mukachevo line through the Čierna Nad Tisou-Chop border crossing.
However, this week Transport Minister Jozef Ráž (Smer) was given the task to ensure that a direct line between Košice and Kyiv was reestablished by the end of the year.
The line should use the existing broad gauge tracks that lead through the border crossing station in Maťovce.
The existing Košice-Mukachevo line is jointly operated by ZSSK and its Ukrainian counterpart Ukrzaliznytsia. More than 74,000 people travelled on the route last year.
The trains run daily, departing from Košice at 8:46 and 11:46 and arriving in Mukachevo in the Zakarpattia region at 14:00 and 16:53. In the opposite direction, two trains leave at 14:48 and 18:16 and arrive at 18:17 and 21:33.
However, the trains have to wait more than an hour at the Čierna nad Tisou-Chop crossing due to the different track gauge used in the two countries.
