- We are restoring the great and beautiful traditions of international expresses presenting the tourist values of our eastern part of Europe to the world - said the Speaker of the Sejm Marek Kuchciński on Saturday during the conference on rail connections Poland - Ukraine.
The event was organized in the lobby of the historic Przemyśl Główny Railway Station, from which, since 2016, thanks to the initiative of the Speaker of the Sejm, a regular train on the Przemyśl-Lviv-Kiev route departs.
In his speech, Marshal Kuchciński reminded that the implementation of the connection on this route is the result of the findings of the session of the Parliamentary Committee on Infrastructure, held on November 23, 2016 in Krasiczyn, and the idea was clarified during a series of conferences Europe of the Carpathians, in which, in addition to Polish parliamentarians and government representatives, representatives of Ukraine and other countries of the region participate every year.
- During the Carpathian Europe, Minister Adamczyk and I talked about restoring better connections with the East. We thought about a great trans-European express like the one that used to run from Istanbul through Kiev, Germany to the capital of France. It came true. For the time being on the line Przemyśl - Lviv - Kiev", said Marek Kuchciński. - Within only two years as many as one million passengers travelled by train on this route. This is a great achievement - he continued.
The Speaker of the Sejm also pointed out that the implementation and maintenance of connections between Poland and Ukraine is an element of economic and social responsibility for the development of a region such as Podkarpacie. - This shows how great is the need to develop mutual contacts between the two countries. It also testifies to the huge demand and expectations of the inhabitants towards the state authorities for initiatives enabling the movement of people and goods across the border. In this case it is PKP Intercity, and therefore passenger transport, but let's imagine what are the demands concerning the development of other areas of transport and infrastructure - emphasized Marek Kuchciński.
The Minister of Infrastructure, Andrzej Adamczyk, who participated in the event, argued that the decision to launch the Przemyśl-Kiev route was based on social and economic grounds. - This is an important connection for Poles living in Lviv and other parts of Ukraine, as well as thousands of Ukrainians working in Poland. We see great potential in further development of connections in the eastern direction," said Minister Adamczyk.
The press conference was preceded by the presentation by Marshal Kuchciński and Minister Adamczyk of an award for a passenger who had bought the "millionth" ticket for a train from Przemyśl to Kiev via Lviv. According to PKP Intercity data, the international train routes connecting Poland and Ukraine discussed at the "Carpathian Europe" conferences are becoming more popular with travelers every year. The relations have been expanded to include Vinnitsa, Ternopil and the city of Khmelnytskyi, among others. In 2018. PKP Intercity transported more than 600 thousand people between Poland and Ukraine, while on Saturday the number of passengers officially reached one million.
CIS
Photo by Iwona Mazurek
