Trains no longer run to Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region - part of the Donbas claimed in its entirety by Russia's President Vladimir Putin. It's another sign of the steady Russian advance.
Instead, the last station is now on the western side of the Donetsk border. This is where civilians and soldiers wait for a ride towards relative safety - their train to get out of Dodge.
Putin has been sounding more bullish since the leak of US proposals to end the war, widely seen as being in tune with his maximalist demands. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky says territory remains the most difficult issue facing US-led peace talks.
At the last station on the line, soldier Andrii and his girlfriend Polina are parting after an all-too-brief time together. Andrii has to return to the front and they don't know when they'll see each other again.
He laughs when I mention peace talks, which have seen Donald Trump's envoys speak to Ukrainian negotiators before heading to Moscow, and dismisses them as chatter, just chatter. He doesn't think the war will be over soon.
There is scepticism, among other soldiers who board the train west for a brief respite from the fighting. They are taking some of their 20 days of leave. Most look exhausted.
Denys, who has been serving in the Ukrainian army for the past two years, tells me everyone's drained, everyone's tired mentally and physically. Some of his comrades have already fallen asleep. His unit has been fighting in the besieged city of Kostyantynivka.
It's scary, really scary, he says, describing drones flying around like flies. But he makes it clear they are not ready to give up after sacrificing so much.
Nobody will give Putin the Donbas. No way, it's our land, he says.
Yevheniy and his wife Maryna have just arrived from Kramatorsk, along with their two children. She tells me there are more drones now. It's getting harder and harder to even go outside. Everything is dangerous, she says.
Others, however, appear more willing to contemplate giving up their home for peace. Oleksandr, whose children have already gone to Germany, says it is too dangerous to stay.
Inna, escaping with her five children, also believes it's time to make a deal. She could no longer hide her kids from the dangers of living in Kramatorsk.
Meanwhile, desertion among soldiers is increasing, with nearly 300,000 cases reported since Russia's full-scale invasion began, highlighting the dire situation faced by Ukraine's military. Serhii, in hiding after abandoning his post, expresses doubt about Ukraine's ability to win the war.
As peace talks continue, civilians endure the pain of choice between their homeland and personal safety, with their fates hanging in the balance amidst a landscape of uncertainty.
