"Ukrzaliznytsia" launches online ticket sales to Austria and in the opposite direction from March 18, the carrier announced.

Previously, tickets to Austria could only be purchased at the ticket offices at the station. Now, tickets can be purchased through the "Ukrzaliznytsia" application. However, to purchase a ticket from Kyiv to Vienna and back, account verification through "Diya. Signature" is also required.

This is the first stage in launching online ticket sales. In the second stage, it will be possible to purchase online tickets for trains from Ukraine to Hungary and in the opposite direction. This includes trains Kyiv – Budapest – Vienna and Chop – Budapest – Vienna, which transit through Hungary to Austria. Online tickets for direct connections (Mukachevo – Debrecen, Mukachevo – Budapest, Chop – Zahony) will be opened for sale in the application "a little later."

According to the head of the board of Ukrzaliznytsia, Yevhen Lyashchenko, agreements with Hungary and Austria were reached "after a long and difficult work."

"Also, as demonstrated by the experience on the Kyiv – Warsaw route, this is quite a powerful deterrent against resellers," Lyashchenko says.

To prepare for online ticket sales, "Ukrzaliznytsia" will temporarily suspend the sale of tickets at the ticket offices for the direct Kyiv – Vienna – Kyiv train on departure dates starting from March 18. Restrictions will last until the start of online sales. Tickets will be opened for sale 20 days before the departure of the train.