The EU will finance the development of the European railway in Ukraine
4 December 2024 12:56
For the first time, a railway infrastructure project will be implemented with co-financing from the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and the Ukrainian state budget. This was announced by Ukrzaliznytsia, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
The project envisages the development of the European gauge in Ukraine and an increase in logistics capabilities for both freight and passenger transportation. Its total cost is EUR 85.91 million and will be covered by CEF 2023, the state budget, borrowed funds, and Ukrzaliznytsia’s own funds. The project is planned to be implemented by 2027, part of the funds have already been allocated in the state budget and an advance payment has been made by the CEF.
The project includes:
– development of feasibility and design documentation for the development of a 1435 mm gauge track in the direction of Lviv and on the Lviv – Chernivtsi – Vadul Siret – State Border sections
– construction and electrification of 1435 mm gauge track on small sections near checkpoints;
– electrification of the Chop-Uzhhorod section;
– elaboration of a development strategy for the Lviv railway junction.
Thanks to the project implementation, in the future, Ukrzaliznytsia will also be able to build and equip four international transport corridors in accordance with TEN-T requirements: North Sea – Baltic, Baltic – Black Sea – Aegean, Baltic – Adriatic, and Rhine – Danube.
As previously reported, last year, as part of the CEF-2022 competition, Ukrzaliznytsia received a grant of €52.5 million to develop border crossings with the Republic of Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, and Hungary.
The problem of the difference in track gauge in Ukraine and the EU
In the EU, the width between railroad tracks is 1435 mm, while in Ukraine it is 1520 mm. To deliver a cargo by rail to a destination from Ukraine to a European country, you need to transfer the cargo from a car designed for Ukrainian gauge to a car that runs on European gauge at a logistics center near the border. The second option is to move the cars to bogies designed for Ukrainian or European gauge.
The construction of the European gauge in Ukraine will reduce the number of additional maintenance stops and speed up the movement. This could increase Ukrainian exports and passenger traffic to the European Union.
Where European gauge rail is already being built in Ukraine
Ukrzaliznytsia started implementing the relevant strategic program in 2023-2024.
The active phase of the construction of the European railway between Chop and Uzhhorod is already underway. The work is scheduled to be completed in the late second or early third quarter of 2025. This was announced during the VI International Conference “Production, Operation and Repair of Rolling Stock” in October by Oleh Yakovenko, Director of the Strategy and Transformation Department of Ukrzaliznytsia JSC. According to him, the next step will be the electrification of this section with the support of the European Union. There are also plans to build and electrify the section between Uzhhorod and Matevci to “join the Slovak railways.” The length of the section is 10 km.
And in 2025, it is planned to start construction of a European railroad from Chernivtsi to Suceava. Currently, the application submitted by Ukrzaliznytsia with the government has won and will receive money from the EU fund for pre-design and design work. Alyona Atamaniuk, the first deputy head of the Chernivtsi Regional State Administration, told Suspilne Chernivtsi about this in an interview. According to the project, the European railway should connect cities such as Krakow, Lviv, Chernivtsi, Suceava, and Ungheni.
