Ukraine switches to European track standard

The blockade of Ukrainian ports by Russia has pushed Ukraine to find alternative ways for its export goods to reach world markets, which has put on the agenda the gradual transition of its railway network to the European track standard.

Probably everyone is wondering why the track width of European railways is 1435 mm, while that of the former Soviet countries is 1520 mm.

The difference between European and Soviet tracks has a geopolitical explanation. In the 19th century, in the face of the expected attack of the European world on the Russian Empire, Russia's strategic goal was to limit the rapid deployment of troops from them on Russian territory. Therefore, Russia developed its own standard of track width, which was later reflected in the railways of the Soviet republics.

In the process of integration with the European Union, the difference in the width of the railways turned out to be a significant obstacle for the former Soviet countries. The Baltic countries were the first to face the need to switch to the European railway due to the difference in the width of the railways.

Despite numerous obstacles from Russia, the Baltic states have successfully solved the problem today, and with the financial assistance of the European Union, they are developing the Rail Baltic project connecting the Baltic countries with the European space via the European railway.

As a result of the Russian-Ukrainian military confrontation, Ukraine found itself in difficult conditions. In particular, if before the war 70% of Ukraine's export products flowed through sea ports, during the hostilities, as a result of the blockade of the ports, in order to reach the world markets, it became necessary to extradite Ukraine's main export products - wheat and metal - by land routes to the ports adjacent to the Danube.

The increase in Ukrainian exports to the Danube ports has led to their congestion. There are frequent cases when there is a queue of 100 ships waiting to be loaded at the port of Constanta.

Ukraine's railway network faces a similar problem of congestion. Eleven railway border crossings connecting Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova operate in a constantly overloaded mode. There are frequent cases when cargo is delayed at border crossings for an average of 15-18 days.

To overcome the above difficulties, Ukraine is considering the construction of a European rail line at border crossings as a priority, which will reduce the time spent at the borders and increase the country's export potential.

In addition, the construction of a European rail line from the Polish border to Lviv is being considered as a priority. Then its expansion to the entire territory of Ukraine. Thus, Ukraine expects to increase passenger traffic along with cargo exports to the European Union. Currently, the issue of expanding the European route system throughout Ukraine is being actively discussed, but the main obstacle is finances. Despite this, the main directions of Lviv - Kiev, Lviv - Odessa and Lviv - Krivoy Rog are being considered.

It is worth noting that in the event of the opening of blocked ports, these directions will be in demand.

The cost of switching to the European route from Lviv to Kiev (572 km) is half a billion euros, an average of 800 thousand euros per kilometer. The estimated cost of extending the European route to Kiev and then expanding it to Odessa is 2 billion euros.

It will take 20 years and 250 billion euros to fully upgrade the 20,000 km of Ukrainian railways to European standards.

Naturally, it is unthinkable for Ukraine to mobilize such financial resources in the current difficult situation.

It is worth considering that the launch of the European railway will be accompanied by difficulties, since in addition to the construction of the railway infrastructure, it will be necessary to purchase expensive rolling stock.

In addition to the existing adapted option for integrating Ukrainian railways into European networks, when wagons are replaced at border crossings, Ukraine has begun laying a combined track structure to enter the European space, for the first time in the Uzhhorod-Chop (Hungarian border) section. This type of combined track is used in the Poland-Lithuania-Latvia-Estonia Rail Baltic direction.

Laying this type of track will avoid costly operations at the trolley replacement station and the areas necessary for rolling stock reloading operations. The cost of laying one kilometer of combined track is $ 2.2 million.

Since 2023, the laying of a combined wide and European 1520/1435 mm track has been underway from Uzhgorod to Chop (Ukraine-Hungarian border). For this period, 8.5 km of the 22 km section has been laid with combined track.

Another option for switching to the European track is the so-called Iberian track - 1668 mm, which is used in Spain and Portugal and is wider than the so-called Soviet track.

The Spaniards have invented a technology that is successfully used when crossing the French border, which allows the automatic expansion or contraction of the track width when the rolling stock is moving at a speed of 15 km/h.

In 2024, based on negotiations between the governments of Spain and Ukraine, a decision was made to introduce Spanish technology on Ukrainian railways. To use the Spanish technology, it will not be necessary to replace locomotives, passenger and freight cars. It is only necessary to replace the rolling stock bogies, which will be equipped with an automatic expansion and contraction system for the track.

Ukraine has long been known for its technologies for manufacturing railway rolling stock. In addition, it has thousands of freight and passenger cars, and this factor will make the use of Spanish construction cheaper.

 

Info: transcor.ge