RegioJet Booms: Record-Breaking Train Routes to Hungary and Ukraine

RegioJet transported nearly 6 million passengers in the first half of 2024. International train travel is booming, with the most significant growth on routes to Budapest and Ukraine. Bus services also remained stable, with 2 million passengers.

RegioJet has released its transportation results for the first half of 2024, showing substantial growth, according to a press release received by RAILTARGET. Nearly 6 million passengers used the company's trains and buses. The most notable increase was in international train travel, particularly on routes to Hungary and Ukraine.

RegioJet's train services transported nearly 4 million passengers, with commercial routes seeing an increase of 300,000 passengers compared to last year. These routes include domestic services within the Czech Republic and international routes to Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, and Poland. On the express routes R23 (Kolín–Ústí nad Labem) and R8 (Brno–Ostrava–Bohumín), which RegioJet operates as part of public service obligations, the number of passengers remained stable at 1 million.

Boom in International Train Travel

The most significant growth was observed in international rail transport, where the number of passengers reached approximately 920,000, an increase from 800,000 in 2019. Passengers are also opting for longer journeys, with the average travel distance rising from 270 km to 300 km, as noted in the press release.

There was substantial interest in routes outside the Czech Republic, particularly in Slovakia and on the Vienna–Budapest route. The number of passengers on this route increased from 60,000 in 2019 to 330,000 in 2024. In response to growing demand, RegioJet has increased the number of services between Vienna and Budapest.

Services to Ukraine have also been highly successful. The Prague–Przemyśl route, one of the fastest-growing, transported over 230,000 passengers last year. The new Prague–Košice–Čop route, launched in March this year, offers direct connections to the Transcarpathian region of Ukraine and was used by nearly 23,000 passengers by the end of June.

Stable Bus Services

RegioJet's bus services remained stable, with nearly 2 million passengers transported in the first half of 2024. Last year, RegioJet expanded its fleet with twenty new double-decker Fun&Relax⁺ buses. These buses, offering comfortable seating arrangements in a 2+1 format, have set a new standard in bus travel. They are deployed on international routes to nearby cities such as Budapest, Munich, and Berlin, as well as on longer routes to England, the Netherlands, Switzerland, France, and Italy. During the summer months, these buses also travel to Croatia, a popular holiday destination.

Source: RegioJet; RAILTARGET