Children's Railway

A remnant from Soviet times, Children's Railways were very popular in the former USSR with railways located in most of the major cities of the Eastern European countries. There are still 9 such examples throughout Ukraine and surprisingly they are still very popular, especially with tourists. The children’s railway located in Kyiv is a well-kept example and still enjoyed by many today.

The basic premise is that children and teenagers can learn and study the various railway professions in a safe environment. The older children get to drive the trains (under supervision of course) and the younger ones work in the ticket office and as conductors within the carriages.

To take a ride, find one of the two stations in Syrets Park and approach the ticket office. There’s a very low chance that the cashier will speak English as they are often very young children so try your best to indicate the number of tickets and look on the wall for the current prices. Last winter a ride in a standard carriage was 110 UAH for an adult and 80 UAH for a child, with the retro and Lux carriages costing a bit more.

Next wait for the train; there should be a timetable somewhere or you can ask one of the older enthusiastic children on the platform and they’ll try to help you. They will probably be happy to have a chance to practise their English with a native speaker.

When the train comes, the children will invite you on to the train. Once it departs, they will come round in their uniforms and check and stamp your tickets. They also stand up and announce the station names as you come close to them. There are two stations on the circuit and a high bridge across a valley which you can walk across assuming there isn’t a train coming!

It runs all year now, at weekends through the winter and from Thursday to Sunday in the summer holidays, as the children are at school during the week. Ukrzaliznytsia now puts the timetable on its website, so you don’t have to go on the off chance any more. If they aren’t working, you can still walk around the park and see the carriages at the station, and the disc golf sessions run from the same metro stop if you want something else out of the trip.

If it’s the children you’re keeping busy, Kyiv in Miniature over on Hydropark island is the other one that buys you an hour.