Ukrainian Railways, Czech railway operator RegioJet sign deal on using railway infrastructure for train services between Prague, Chop

MOSCOW. April 3 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian Railways state company and the Czech Republic's RegioJet railway operator have concluded a one-year agreement under which RegioJet will use the Ukrainian Railways' railway infrastructure between Prague and Chop.

"The train service between Prague and Chop via Ukraine's territory is based on three separate agreements, namely, an agreement on train operations, which is in fact an agreement on providing access to the infrastructure, an agreement on the distribution of electricity, which provides for purchasing the service of electricity distribution and its supply to our locomotive, and an agreement on purchasing electricity," Ukrainian media quoted RegioJet Managing Director Jakub Svoboda as saying in an interview.

The latter of the three agreements between RegioJet and Ukrainian Railways was signed just three days before the service was launched between Prague and Chop, he said.

RegioJet would like to conclude an agreement for a longer period, he said. "Definitely. We would like to conclude an agreement for a longer period. We would like to use this infrastructure for as long as possible, as RegioJet has a lot of business development plans in Ukraine, and we see a lot of opportunities. We would like to extend the train's route from Prague to Mukachevo," Svoboda said.

The cost of using infrastructure in Ukraine is much higher than in Europe, he said.

"If you calculate the cost on the train per kilometer basis, this is nearly ten times as expensive as in some EU countries. It wasn't easy for us to meet these conditions. But we really want to offer this service. We're interested in implementing the project," Svoboda said, declining to name specific figures due to the agreement's non-disclosure clause.

Svoboda said he expected that the parties would have a chance to sit at the negotiating table and discuss "fair agreement terms" in the future, as all the costs are ultimately included in the ticket price.

As reported earlier, starting March 27, RegioJet has launched passenger services along a second route from the Czech Republic to Ukraine via Slovakia in addition to the one previously launched, which passes through Poland's Przemysl. The service is performed using three carriages seating 140 passengers as part of a train operating between Prague and Kosice. Ticket prices start from 18.8 euros for seats and from 25 euros for places in sleeping cars.

Ukrainian Railways has also launched a special transfer train service linking Chernovtsy, Chop, and Uzhgorod aligned with the Prague-Chop international train.