Germany and Austria offer free ride to Ukrainian refugees on long-distance trains

All the Ukrainian refugees travelling to Germany and Austria can ride for free on long-distance trains, as per the transport authorities in both nations.

In Germany, the public national railway company, Deutsche Bahn, announced on Sunday and stated that it was collaborating with railways in Poland to place additional special carriages and trains on the rails in case Ukrainians fled war, arrived in huge numbers.

“As of now, refugees with Ukrainian passports or identity cards can use all long-distance trains from Poland to Germany free of charge. We want to make it easy for refugees to continue their journey from the border within Germany,” the company wrote on Twitter.

The company said it is also in close contact with the Federal Government, the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs, federal and state authorities, and its partner railways in neighbouring Poland and the Czech Republic and Austria.

Six Eurocity long-distance trains from Poland to Germany run every day regularly, and all pass the Frankfurt/Oder border crossing. The long-distance trains have their starting points in Warsaw, Gdansk, Przemysl (border to Ukraine)/Krakow, Vienna/Wroclaw.

The German government has said, for its part, that it is willing to take in Ukrainians and provide massive assistance to nations that border on Ukraine, particularly Poland.

On Sunday, Austria’s Transport Minister Leonore Gewessler said that she had agreed with the OeBB public railways’ company for the Ukrainians to use its trains without tickets.

“Ukrainians who are fleeing from war can use OeBB trains in Austria without a ticket,” she tweeted. “In times like this, it is our responsibility to help fast and unbureaucratically. And that is exactly what we are doing.”