Ukrainian railway carrier Ukrzaliznytsia has updated its "Iron Friends" loyalty program and pinned book offers to the most prominent spot in its mobile app. In parallel, the company launched a service that allows passengers on select routes to order literature directly to their seat when purchasing a ticket. According to the carrier, the "Books" category is already among the most popular among loyalty program users.
Books — top priority in the app
Book offers are now placed first in the partner bonuses section of the Ukrzaliznytsia app. This decision, the company says, reflects sustained passenger demand for literature on the go and turns reading into one of the key elements of the customer experience. The carrier emphasizes that interest in books on trains remains consistently high, which is what prompted the category to be moved to a leading position in the interface.
Ordering literature to your seat
Passengers on select trains can now choose a book at the ticket-purchase stage and receive it at their seat at the start of the journey. The service is available on international routes to Przemyśl, Chełm, Budapest, Chișinău, and Bucharest. In addition, book delivery to seats is available on the company's flagship domestic trains. Thus, reading on the move becomes not a chance pastime but a thoughtfully integrated part of the ticket-buying process.
Supporting Ukrainian publishers
The initiative also has a socio-economic dimension: it is designed to support Ukrainian publishers that continue to operate amid constant shelling and the destruction of printing houses. By featuring books in a priority section of the app and arranging their delivery on trains, Ukrzaliznytsia creates an additional sales channel for domestic publishers and helps the industry maintain resilience under difficult conditions.
Multimodal hubs and a single ticket
The book service fits into the carrier's broader course of systematically expanding its services and upgrading transport infrastructure. In particular, the company is preparing a major update that will allow customers to buy a railway and a bus ticket in one place. As part of this project, stations in five Ukrainian cities have already officially become multimodal transport hubs, combining rail and bus services into a single ecosystem.
Cultural initiatives on wheels
Beyond service innovations, Ukrzaliznytsia is implementing social and cultural projects. Recently, more than two thousand people visited the traveling exhibition "The Courage of the Nation" during its first international tour of Moldovan cities, where the story of ten-year-old Sasha Paskal moved the visitors. The total number of guests of this exhibition has already exceeded 50,000, indicating strong audience interest in the cultural dimension of rail travel.
