Kiev to Bratislava Train

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I am looking for info on a direct train from Kiev to Bratislava. I am only interested in the one going through Lviv, Chop and Kosice, and not via Budapest or Minsk. Does anyone have info on the train number and what train it is, i.e. Ukrainain, Slovakian etc. as well as how to purchase tickets. Thanks,

Does anyone have info on the train number and what train it is, i.e. Ukrainain, Slovakian etc. as well as how to purchase tickets.

Actually it is not really a whole train, but just one single direct through UZ carriage, which departs Kyiv daily with train #99 (Kyiv-Uzghorod) at 15:22, then in Chop (from 6am till 9am next morning) it gets bogie change, border/customs control and reattachment to cross-border train Chop-Cierna nad Tisou. In Cierna once again it gets reattached (now to Cierna-Kosice local train) and continues to Kosice, where final reattachment happens (now to Kosice-Bratislava train). Arrival to Bratislava at 18:05, so it takes almost 28 hours for the entire journey

Carriages are Ukrainian, renovated not that along ago (think they all used to run in Kyiv-Berlin train before it was canceled), so basically it's the best thing Ukrainian Railways (UZ) have. Here the photo of Kyiv-Bratislava carriage taken just a few weeks ago


Ticket... well it's a bit tricky. Ukrainian Railways doesn't sell tickets for this type of international connections online, so the only way to buy it is at the station. However it's not that big of a problem, since these carriages to Slovakia pretty much always empty (partly due to the fact that it's expensive to travel the whole route with international ticket), so the situation when it's sold out is basically impossible.
Ticket fare for Kyiv to Bratislava depends on some additional factors (whether you travel one-way or return and whether it's just one passenger or more), but as a rough estimate for one-way one passenger ticket+sleeper reservation we speaking about sum around 85 euro (although when bought in Ukraine in UAH any time soon it can turn out to be even cheaper). But in case you want to save money you can travel using domestic trains this carriage gets attached to (--> getting off & boarding next one) for the total fare more than twice cheaper

Thanks so much for the detailed information. I will definitely try and get on this carriage and the price seems reasonable to me. I have a friend in Kiev, I think I might get him to buy the ticket for me to ensure it doesn't get sold out.

I have a friend in Kiev, I think I might get him to buy the ticket for me to ensure it doesn't get sold out.

Well, as was said earlier, "sold out" is not about Kyiv-Bratislava, there is even some chance that you might be the only passenger in the entire carriage  But in case you want to have your ticket in advance, you friend can purchase it either at the central station in Kyiv (international ticket counters are in the both wings) or at the central railway ticket counters closer to the city center (Shevchenka boulevard 38/40)

Thanks again for the info. The reason I want to be safe in regards to booking is that there are four of us and we want to share the same comparment.

The reason I want to be safe in regards to booking is that there are four of us and we want to share the same comparment.

Ok, I see. But you should take into consideration the fact that although it's UZ carriage, but it is still RIC type, so compartments are for 1 to 3 passengers (and not for 4 as it is in Ukrainian domestic trains).
Also since it's 4 passengers traveling together, you should probably tell your friend to ask about so-called CityStar ticket (--> special offer between Ukrainian and Slovak Railways, where second, third etc. passenger actually pays half the price for the ticket part). CityStar ticket is sold as return ticket, but because it will be 50% off for 3 out 4 passenger, buying such return CityStar in your case should turn out to be actually cheaper than purchasing 4 separate one-way tickets

I didn't realize that the compartments were only for 1 to 3 passengers. Does that mean there are 1 passenger compartments, 2 passenger compartments and 3 passenger compartments or do they all hold from 1 to 3 passengers. Also, are you quite confident that it won't pose a problem getting the tickets when we arrive there in regards to being sold out. I hadn't realized my friend left and we would be traveling in the latter part of June. Not sure now if it is safe to just do as you suggested or have an agent book it for us, which results in almost double price. I have heard that in summer trains tend to fill quickly. What are your recommendations on this?

Does that mean there are 1 passenger compartments, 2 passenger compartments and 3 passenger compartments or do they all hold from 1 to 3 passengers.

All of them can be occupied either by one person (so-called single), two (double) or three (often called "tourist"). Compartment from inside looks like this, during the day or when it's just one or two passengers occupancy middle berth gets folded and becomes kind of backrest for the lower berth

Also, are you quite confident that it won't pose a problem getting the tickets when we arrive there in regards to being sold out. I hadn't realized my friend left and we would be traveling in the latter part of June. Not sure now if it is safe to just do as you suggested or have an agent book it for us, which results in almost double price. I have heard that in summer trains tend to fill quickly. What are your recommendations on this?

You shouldn't worry about Kyiv-Bratislava being sold out, it's like 1 out of 100 chance for this to happen. So just buy these tickets yourself when you arrive to Ukraine, very confident about this