By KYIV. Nov 9 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Czech railway operator RegioJet confirmed its intention to invest in restoring electrification on the Ukrainian section Chop – Mukachevo, owner of the operator Radim Yanchura said in an interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
“If Ukrzaliznytsia supports us and contributes to the implementation of the project, we are ready to invest in the electrification of the Chop – Mukachevo route. I cannot give the exact amount of investment now – we are waiting for approval from Ukrzaliznytsia. This will be our gift to Ukraine, just like our humanitarian trains at the beginning of the full-scale invasion,” he said.
Yanchura also said that RegioJet would like to extend the night train to Mukachevo.
“We believe that the war will soon end and tourism will resume. Czechs love the mountains. We would like to extend the night train to Mukachevo so that Czech and Slovak tourists wake up at their destination and go to the beautiful Carpathians,” Yanchura said.
At the same time, he added that Zakarpattia is one of the poorest tourist regions and tourism will contribute to the development of mountainous and foothill regions of Ukraine.
In addition, Yanchura said that RegioJet’s investments in the acquisition of railway trains between Prague and Przemysl amounted to EUR 15 million. The funds were raised through loan financing. At first, this route was unprofitable, but has recently become profitable, since there are practically no empty seats on the trains.
Earlier it was reported that RegioJet plans to launch a Chop – Prague train from Ukraine in November.
