RegioJet, People in Need, ČD Cargo and Rail Cargo Group will launch humanitarian trains between Ukraine and Prague
The connection is to operate every day, the inspection will take place on the train between Ukraine and Poland.
As of tomorrow, three other major carriers will join Ukrainian refugees on their way to the Czech Republic: RegioJet, ČD Cargo and Rail Cargo Group (belonging to the Austrian ÖBB railways).
In cooperation with People in Need, a humanitarian train bridge will be launched from Tuesday, connecting Prague and other cities in the Czech Republic with Ukraine on a daily basis in both directions.
RegioJet responds to a direct request from the capital of Kiev and the management of the Ukrainian Railways. It will ensure the evacuation of people and the transport of humanitarian aid. This is the third project to help domestic railway carriers: Czech Railways organizes its trains and other carriers, such as Cheetah Express or Arriva, also help under the banner of Railways.
“The train will be designed for humanitarian passenger transport free of charge. At the same time in the direction of Ukraine will carry food, medicine, toiletries, sleeping bags and other requested assistance. The train will have both sleeping cars with a total capacity of up to 400 seats (with sufficient capacity for luggage transport) and pallet trucks for the transport of humanitarian cargo up to 600 pallets per day according to current possibilities. In total, we count on up to twenty-car trains – we will provide Ukraine with a large capacity for passenger transport and humanitarian aid on a daily basis, “ said Radim Jančura, owner of RegioJet.
RegioJet will cover the operation of the connections at its own expense. The train connections will run as night trains from Prague via Poland to the Przemyśl border station, then in cooperation with the Ukrainian Railways, the cargo will continue via Lviv to Kiev. In the opposite direction, the train of the Ukrainian Railways IC from Lviv to Przemyśl with a transfer to the RegioJet sleeping train to Ostrava, Olomouc, Pardubice and Prague. This will be a model of cooperation (excluding lorries) that RegioJet has planned with Ukrainian Railways for its regular services. They never started. Mainly because of the pandemic, now because of the war. He will use cars on the line, which he otherwise uses for the seasonal line to Croatia.
Trucks from ČD Cargo and its subsidiary ÖBB
“Logistical and security problems have prevented us from delivering more humanitarian aid to the country, the needs are enormous. The joint project of using trains with a transfer on the Ukrainian Railways and delivering them to various places in the infested country is great, and if it starts in full force, it will mean several and a few tons, and that is really a significant help. “ says Šimon Pánek, director of People in Need.
RegioJet cooperates with People in Need, ČD Cargo and Rail Cargo Group (a member of the ÖBB Group) on a humanitarian train bridge for Ukraine. People in Need provides logistics for gathering humanitarian aid to transport RegioJet trains to Ukraine; ČD Cargo and Rail Cargo Group will provide trucks. Every day, several trucks with pallets of necessary humanitarian aid financed from the public collection SOS Ukraine People in Need will be loaded onto trains from Prague.
RegioJet will take care of the organization of passenger transport. The transport will be free for everyone – in addition to the citizens of Ukraine fleeing the war, the humanitarian workers and other organizations who will need to reach Ukraine in the opposite direction will also be able to use the connections. regiojet.cz). It will be possible to reserve a seat for a symbolic CZK 1 (this is an administrative fee to be included in the reservation system) via the RegioJet reservation system; however, those who come directly to the train without a reservation will also be able to use the transport – RegioJet staff will arrange for their location. The train will offer up to 400 seats in the sleeping compartment.
Passengers receive a free hot dinner, breakfast and water. “Everything is a gift from our partners,Jančura added. In addition, last week, RegioJet offered all RegioJet citizens who prove themselves with Ukrainian documents the opportunity to use all RegioJet train connections for free. In the case of a train bridge, transportation will be free for all passengers – regardless of nationality fleeing war-torn areas.
The train bridge will be set up as a cross-border. This means that it will provide transport by train directly from Ukraine to Prague – without traveling on damaged roads and through congested border crossings. In the Lviv – Przemyśl section, passengers will travel via the IC set of the Ukrainian Railways, and at the Przemyśl station there will be a direct guaranteed transfer to the RegioJet train set (this is necessary with regard to different railway departures).
Cross-border train connections were supposed to be the fastest way to evacuate women and children from war-torn territory. In cooperation with the Ukrainian Railways and the border authorities, the connections from Lviv to Prague should take place during the train ride between the cities of Lviv and Przemyśl; As a result, they avoid many hours of painful border crossing at the road border crossing.
RegioJet will specify further details regarding the train bridge for Ukraine in the following hours, with the first connection departing on Tuesday, March 1, 2022 in the evening.
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