Some 400 new international bus routes unlocked for Ukrainian carriers in 2023

The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development Deputy Minister Serhiy Derkach in a commentary to an Ukrinform correspondent.

“Every month we receive about 50 requests to open new international routes. In 2023, we unlocked 400 of them. It is a big number, as we have 1,500 international routes in total. Thus, we launched about 25-30% of them last year alone,” Derkach told.

In his words, such proactivity among carriers dealing with international bus services can be explained by an increased demand, namely due to the war.

According to the data from the ministry, about 7.5 million people traveled abroad by bus in 2023. It is slightly less than the passenger flow during the first year of the war (8.5 million people), but several times higher compared to the pre-war period. In particular, only 1.2 million people traveled abroad by bus in 2021.

“Now, our task is to create comfortable conditions for bus passengers to cross the border, so that they do not have to wait in queues for 10-15 hours. For this purpose, we are launching slotting for carriers in the eCherha (eQueue) system. As soon as people know exactly the traveling time from one point to another, they will understand that crossing the border by bus is convenient. After that, they will switch from cars to buses driving under the eCherha system, and this will promote the development of the international transport services market,” Derkach concluded.

A reminder that the eCherha (eQueue) system for international bus services was launched on July 31, 2023. Since February 12, 2024, this service has expanded to all checkpoints on Ukraine’s border with EU countries and Moldova.

Photo: illustrative