Carriage rules
The conditions of travel are not set by us. They are set by the state: the Rules for the Carriage of Passengers, Luggage, Freight-Luggage and Mail by Rail in Ukraine were approved by order no. 1196 of the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Ukraine of 27 December 2006 and registered with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on 4 December 2007 under no. 310/13577. The revision in force is that of 17 March 2026.
rail.ua acts as an agent: we issue the electronic travel document in the system of JSC Ukrainian Railways. The carrier is the one who takes you there. It is also the carrier that sets the fare, decides who may board, and decides how much is withheld on a refund. So everything on these pages is somebody else's rules retold in plain language, not our terms. Our terms are in the Public offer.
The shortest version
- A ticket is a contract of carriage. It is valid only for the train and the stations named on it.
- Sales open 45 days before departure, and for some trains 90.
- To board you need the boarding document and an identity document whose details match the ticket.
- A child under 6 travels free without a seat of their own; from 6 to 14, on a child's ticket.
- You may carry 36 kg of hand luggage free, and up to 14 kg more for a surcharge.
- Before departure a ticket can be returned; after departure only within an hour, and only at a ticket office.
Sections
- Ticket, boarding and documents
- What the fare is made of
- Refunds and exchanges
- Children on board
- Concessions and discounts
- Luggage and hand luggage
- Animals on board
- Bicycles on board
- Group travel
- Passenger rights and conduct
Train categories
The category determines both the fare and which carriages the train is made up of.
Daytime. Intercity+ (IC+) - 1st and 2nd class seating. Intercity (IC) - the same, sometimes with 3rd class and sleeping carriages. Regional express (RE) and regional train (R) - seated carriages, sometimes compartment and open-plan. Suburban (S), fast suburban (FS) and city (C) - unreserved, or reserved at the suburban fare.
Overnight. Night express (NE) - SV and compartment, sometimes 1st class seating. Night fast (NF) - SV, compartment, open-plan. Night passenger (NP) - compartment and open-plan, sometimes 2nd and 3rd class seating.
A local train runs on a separate section connecting different modes of transport (to an airport, for instance). No surname is entered on the ticket, the ticket is valid for 24 hours, and neither stopovers nor exchanges are arranged on it.
The official documents
What is in force is those texts, not our retelling.
- Rules for the carriage of passengers, luggage, freight-luggage and mail (order no. 1196)
- List of concession categories - annex 2 to the Rules
- Procedure for serving citizens by rail - Cabinet of Ministers resolution no. 252
- Rules of conduct for citizens on the railways - Cabinet of Ministers resolution no. 903
- Domestic fares - Ministry of Infrastructure order no. 184
- International fares - order no. 306
- Flexible-regulation coefficients by period and day of the week
- Rules for crossing the state border by citizens of Ukraine
- The "Carriage rules" page on uz.gov.ua
Who answers for what
The carrier - the timetable, seat availability, the fare, boarding, the conduct of staff, luggage, delays and cancellations, the amount withheld on a refund, and the handling of claims.
We - finding and showing seats, issuing the ticket in the UZ system, delivering the boarding document to your inbox and your account, filing a refund request, and answering your messages.
If our retelling has come apart from the source, the source is what applies. If you notice that, write to us and we will correct it.