photo: Ukrzaliznytsia / Public domain/Ukrzaliznytsia passenger train
As part of its strategic rail infrastructure development program aimed at Ukraine's integration into the EU, Ukrzaliznytsia has announced the start of construction of a European gauge between Chop and Uzhhorod, which borders Slovakia and Hungary. The first link of the rail and sleeper grid of the new European gauge was laid last week.
According to the Ukrainian national carrier, the project envisages the construction of 22 kilometers of European-standard railway track, as well as the reconstruction of artificial structures, networks, and engineering facilities, and the equipping of the track with two-way semi-automatic interlocking and microprocessor-based dispatching devices.
"Today we are launching the construction of an important project—the creation of the first European railway from Chop to Uzhhorod. This project will not only improve the comfort of passenger traffic and redistribute passenger flow but will also give us new logistics opportunities for freight transportation and relieve the burden of automobile checkpoints," said Denys Shmyhal, Prime Minister of Ukraine. "Uzhhorod will become the first regional center to be connected to Europe by a European-style track."
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This project will enable direct passenger routes between Uzhhorod and European countries, and travelers will be able to transfer from trains from all regions of Ukraine to further European destinations.
According to the press center of Ukrzaliznytsia, the next stage will be the electrification of the new 1435 mm European gauge on the Chop-Uzhhorod section. Yevhen Liashchenko, chairman of the board of Ukrzaliznytsia, said that the carrier has applied to participate in a new CEF project competition for grant co-financing.
"We have started implementing the project; we are now completing the preparatory work, and the main stage of construction will begin in May. The project documentation and feasibility study were developed at the expense of the state budget in 2021-2022. The project will be implemented with 50% grant co-financing from the EU's Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). Ukrzaliznytsia was given the opportunity to implement this project as a result of successful participation in the CEF's competitive selection of projects in 2022. [...] The project implementation period is 14 months," Liashchenko said.