Train: Airport Express 818
Route: Kiev Main Railway Station (Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi) to Kiev Boryspil Airport
Time: 7:00- 7:44
Duration: 44min
Seat& Class: Non-reserved (2nd Class)
I was about to depart so early the next morning that I decided to buy the ticket to Boryspil Airport the day before. I knew that the bus service to the airport is the major option for travellers (there was little information regarding the train service on the internet then), but I found it possible to choose the train service on having arrived at the station some days before, so I took the one less travelled by. Actually, the train that I would use was filled with local people, and foreign tourists mostly seem to use the bus service.
The train operates 24 hours a day. You can buy tickets for the Kiev Boryspil Airport next to the entrance to the platform, which costs around 80 UAH. It is located at the raised crossover bridge (first floor, platform 14), which is above the railways (ground floor). You need to be careful that the time is fixed and it seems impossible to change the departure time. You can go through the entrance (automated gate) by holding your ticket over the machine to make it to the platform.
The next day, I arrived at the train station five minutes before departure, and there were few seats left… The train was crowded with local people like an urban commuter train, though they were kind enough to give place to me. If you had some pieces of baggage, you should check the platform beforehand and try to arrive early; it was not easy for me to find the entrance for the Airport Express for the first time I visited there. By the way, the seat configuration was 2+3, which was not wide enough (but it was ok).
Extra Edition
There is another major option to come and go between Kiev Main Railway Station and Kiev Boryspil Airport. It is the ‘Sky Bus (Line 322)’, which operates every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day (fewer operations at night, every 30-45 minutes). This bus stops at ‘Kharkivska Metro Station’, which is located at the east of Kiev centre, and ‘Pivdenny Station’, which is just in front of the Kiev Main Railway Station. It takes 50 minutes to get there, and the fare is almost the same as the airport express train (the train was a little bit cheaper when I visited last time), approximately 100 UAH. You can have a look at the up-to-date information here.
