Russia destroys 46 Ukrzaliznytsia passenger carriages since start of full-scale invasion

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has destroyed 46 passenger carriages of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian Railways) and 42 suburban train cars, while another 200 carriages and an Intercity+ train are awaiting repair due to shelling, drone strikes, and collisions, according to a company statement on Wednesday.

According to Ukrzaliznytsia data, around 1,100 carriages are also awaiting inspection and decommissioning due to age and unusable condition.

"This means that this summer season will be even harder for us than the previous one, as demand is growing while the number of carriages, on the contrary, is decreasing," the company reported on Telegram.

Currently, the average demand-to-supply ratio for train seats stands at 4 to 1, and it is expected to rise to six people per seat during the peak season.

"On certain routes, the numbers are absolutely fantastic – 9,762 people look for seats from Lviv to Kyiv every day," the statement says.

Ukrzaliznytsia emphasized the need to plan trips in advance and purchase tickets 20 days ahead using the auto-buy feature.

"The 150,000 passengers who have already purchased around one million tickets since the beginning of the year specifically through auto-buy can confirm its effectiveness," the company specified.

For international travel, it is worth paying attention to airports in Moldova, Romania, and Hungary, as buying a ticket to these destinations during high season is easier than to Polish cities.

"An uneasy summer lies ahead, but we continue to build new carriages and ramp up the pace of repairs on old rolling stock to make travel accessible to everyone during the peak season," Ukrzaliznytsia said.

As reported by Oleh Yakovenko, director of the strategy and transformation department of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia, at the 8th International Conference "Railways of Ukraine: Development and Investments," the number of attacks on railway infrastructure in 2025 amounted to around 1,200, which is more than in 2023 and 2024 combined.

According to him, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia has hit around 17,300 infrastructure facilities and pieces of railway rolling stock, including 7,300 damaged and 9,900 destroyed.

A total of 40 railway workers have been killed while performing their duties since the start of Russia’s armed aggression in 2022.