The night/day service 149/749 doesn't serve its purpose.
Зрада! (время хода оставили старое :\ )
Івано-Франківськ Київ 749 (ІНТЕРСІТІ) з 18/01/2017 щоденно
Станція Час прибуття Час вiдпр.
Івано-Франківськ 09:00
Львів 11:06 11:26
Київ-Пас. 17:34
It is late, slow and too expensive.
It is a fiasco to return to 2010-11 in terms of journey time between Lviv and Kyiv (6:08) - at a much higher price.
Instead I propose an earlier morning schedule with a start in the mountains:
Vorokhta 5:XX - Frankivsk 7:00 - Lviv 8:32-8:38 - Kyiv 13:40.
Such a train service would be a 3-in-1:
- An early morning commuter Carpathians -> Frankivsk, Frankivsk -> Lviv.
- A tourist, family and arrivals on the overnight from Wroclaw/Krakow (7:15) friendly IC+ Lviv - Kyiv
- A direct morning IC+ from the Carpathians to Kyiv for the pri-carpathian business segment who prefer to sleep in their own bed.
The return run could depart Kyiv anytime between 14:00 and 16:30. For instance:
Kyiv 14:00 - Lviv 19:02-19:10 - Frankivsk 20:40 - Vorokhta 22:XX (#702 could be speeded up by 30 minutes and depart later, say 19:40).
Such a return service would also be a 3-in-1:
- An alternative to the evening IC+ Kyiv - Lviv,
- A direct train to the mountains for those returning home or for those who would like to get there in one day, get accommodated and wake up breathing the fresh air of the Carpathians,
- An evening commuter train Lviv -> Frankivsk -> Carpathians.
Requirements:
- Selective rail head upgrades Vorokhta - Nadvirne - Frankivsk - Lviv (to shorten the Vorokhta - Nadvirne - Frankivsk time and to reach a Frankivsk - Lviv travel time of 1:30 including 3 short calls, compared to 1:40 non-stop today)
- Purchasement of a designated light 75-120 meter hybrid motor-wagon multi-class partly low-floor train (<700 kg per seat) with traction motors driven by electricity from overhead lines or generated by undercarriage mounted diesel engine(s) supplemented by supercaps and batteries.
Is such a project expensive, you say? Yes it cost money - just like the new convertibles do.
But such a new motor-wagon train is not only costly, it is also innovative. Both in terms of journey time, travel opportunities and comfort.
Can the same be said about the new convertibles?