Ukrzaliznytsia has registered a rail operator in Poland – Ukrainian Railways Cargo Poland – paving its way to enter European market which will ensure its transport connection in Europe.
The rail operator has been registered in Warsaw, Ukrzaliznytsia announced on June 30, 2023.
“We are integrating the cargo rail transport system of Ukraine into the European space and are starting to build a full-fledged cargo transport operator on the territory of the European Union. The main principle of the work of our international division will be in close ties with foreign partners, transparency and competition for the sake of a decent representation of Ukrzaliznytsia on the international arena,” Yevhen Lyashchenko, the chairman of the board of Ukrzaliznytsia said.
It is planned that at the first stage of its work, Ukrainian Railways Cargo Poland will provide a comprehensive cargo transport service, coordinate work with European operators, cargo owners, border crossings, operate rolling stock on the rail networks with 1435mm and 1520mm gauges, control the rolling stock of the company abroad, and fully ensuring the logistics process.
“The creation of such a company is a must for the need of the development and growth of freight turnover between Ukraine and the European Union and is one of the main components of Ukrzaliznytsia’s strategy for the development of freight transportat by rail. It is also one of the priorities of the strategy of providing a comprehensive door-to-door transport service,” Vyacheslav Yeromin, a member of the board of Ukrzaliznytsia, explained.
The long-term strategy for the successful operation of the international division is at the final stage of development and will be approved by the supervisory board of Ukrzaliznytsia in the near future.
In June 2023, Ukrzaliznytsia increased the volume of cargo transport by 32% compared to the same period in 2022, to 12.4 million tonnes.Compared to May, this represents an increase of 8%.
The European Commission is striving to integrate the rail system of Ukraine and to support its infrastructure reconstruction and development. In June, an agreement was signed to allow Ukraine to benefit European funds through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for which transport projects can be submitted under the next call for proposals expected to be launched in September 2023. Priority will be given to the projects which promote connectivity to the European Union on the TEN-T core network.
Recently, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank published a study which highlights the need of 1435mm gauge track extension to Ukraine (and to the Republic of Moldova) will help for the integration with the EU rail system.
The railway network in Ukraine is characterised by 1520mm-gauge lines excepting short sections near the border crossing points with EU member states.
The study says that ad Ukraine has a relatively high rail mode share (on both passenger and freight sectors), a planned transition towards 1435mm-gauge network can be possible if the current rail network retains its ability to efficiently accommodate current levels of demand and operations. After comprehensive analyses of the country’s railway system (including signalling and telecommunication, electrification, terminals and transshipment facilities, rolling stock, capacity, demands, etc.) it is not realistic for Ukraine to switch to a complete 1435mm gauge network but instead it is possible the creation of a network which combines 1520mm and 1435mm gauge tracks, the study explains.
For Ukraine, the study proposes that the first European track gauge links would be feasible for connection with Poland, from Kraków/Katowice to Lviv. Furthermore the study is providing additional new connections between Poland and Ukraine throughWarsaw and Kyiv and Warsaw and Lviv routes, and a connection towards Romanian border from Lviv, while the domestic 1435mm corridor would link Lviv and Kyiv and Kyiv and Kharkiv/Dnipro. The study recommends the establishment of a 1435mm backbone network which would allow the connection to the EU rail network through Romania, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.
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