Latvian port “Rīgas Universālais Termināls” (RUT) has received and unloaded the first test train with 1423 tons of Ukrainian rape, which were loaded into 54 containers, reported the Latvian edition ldz.lv.
According to the report, containers with Ukrainian grain were delivered by the subsidiary of SIA “LDZ CARGO” VAS “Latvijas dzelzceļš”. Containers from Ukraine arrived at the port of Riga through Kaunas intermodal railroad terminal, where they were loaded on the platforms of SIA “LDZ CARGO” to continue their journey to Riga. The Ukrainian rapeseed is currently being unloaded and stored at RUT warehouses.
“I am very pleased with the successful cooperation of Latvian Railways, Riga Port and Riga Universal Terminal, which provided the first delivery of Ukrainian grain cargoes by rail and transshipment in the port. Also in the future, Latvia will become an important ally of Ukraine, bringing Ukraine closer and integrating it into the European transportation network,” Latvian Transport Minister Kaspars Briškens said.
According to the information provided by the manager of the Freeport of Riga, Ansis Zeltins, since the beginning of the war the terminals of the Freeport of Riga have been actively working on the transportation of Ukrainian grain products. It was delivered to the port by road transport, which “is not comparable to railroad transport in terms of efficiency and volume of cargo transportation”.
Several terminals in the port of Riga by technological and infrastructural capabilities will be fully ready to receive and efficiently handle container trains with Ukrainian grain products. We hope that this first test of the entire logistics chain will be successful, and from now on we will regularly receive trains with Ukrainian grain in the Port of Riga,” he emphasized.
Receiving grain in containers is a new experience for the terminals of the Port of Riga, the publication noted.
Edgars Rudzitis, head of the wholesale warehouses department of RUT, said that the terminal is equipped and ready to receive grain container trains from Ukraine. It has the necessary technology to handle containers, warehouses and suitable infrastructure for bulk storage and cargo loading.
In spite of the new type of transshipment and difficulties, all works have been performed in the shortest possible time – the terminal’s possibilities have also allowed the carrier to fulfill its main requirement – to free the railway platforms quickly, so that they could be used for new shipments, he said.
Rinalds Plavnieks, Chairman of the Board of VAS “Latvijas dzelzceļš”, in turn, said that the Ukrainian grain delivered in containers is the first cargo from Ukraine, which will be transported through the company’s infrastructure.
“We have repeatedly confirmed that the capacities of Latvian railway infrastructure and SIA “LDZ CARGO” allow us to transport and handle large volumes of cargo, including grain from Ukraine. In accordance with the current situation, we have created new freight transportation options and plan to develop them in the future, so that the transportation of grain and other products between Ukraine and Latvia can be carried out regularly,” assured the cargo carrier.
Containers were shipped from Ukraine on September 25, on October 8 they were reloaded on the platforms of SIA “LDZ CARGO” in Kaunas, and on October 11 the platforms arrived to the port of Riga and unloading began at the Riga universal terminal. Railway transportation was organized by SIA “LDZ CARGO” together with the customer SIA “LTG Cargo Ukraine” under a cooperation agreement concluded in November 2022.
KP “Kharkiv subway” on July 13 announced a tender for insurance of train drivers against accidents during the service trip, reported in the system of electronic public procurement Prozorro.
The expected cost is UAH 29,682 thousand.
Documents for participation are accepted until July 21, 2023.
“Ukrzaliznytsia” (UZ) is launching a test flight of the “Kyiv-Warsaw” train with standard “wide” passenger cars in order to obtain the Polish side’s final permission to increase the number of trips and, respectively, seats on this route by two or three times, the press service of UZ said.
According to its data the purpose of the test is to confirm the compatibility of standard passenger cars of UZ with the modernized infrastructure of Polish Railways. The current stage of the project is the final one.
On Wednesday, May 31, 14 standard passenger cars of size 1-BM leave Kiev, which in Jagodina will be converted to euro bogies for “narrow” europeways (1435 mm).
“During my first trip to Poland as chairman of the board of Ukrzaliznytsia in the delegation headed by Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction of Ukraine – Minister of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Alexander Kubrakov, we agreed to finalize this project. Earlier, all the tests were carried out, and we realized: our standard cars can freely pass the test run, after which we will get the “green light” from the Polish side. This will allow in two or three times to increase the supply of seats for direct communication between the Ukrainian and Polish capitals, “- quoted in a press release, the head of the board of UZ Eugene Lyashchenko.
Reportedly, UZ has already engaged all RIC-class cars in its fleet (Regolamento Internazionale Carrozze – Italian). In addition, the company asked European partners to transfer new “narrow” cars, but it will take more than two years to order and build such cars. “This did not stop Ukrainian railroad workers, as the demand of our passengers prompts them to find non-standard solutions. Almost a year ago UZ initiated and conducted work with Polish railroad workers on this project realization”, – words of the UZ board member Alexander Pertsovsky are cited in the report.
There were several rounds of negotiations and agreements between the two sides on the issue of compatibility, received technical approval of the Polish regulator UTK (Urząd Transportu Kolejowego). At the request of the Polish side, measurements of the dimensions of each car were carried out jointly.
As noted, the number of seats on the direct flight of the train “Kyiv-Warsaw” is limited at the moment, as the Polish railroaders let in only a train equipped with “narrow” RIC-cars with three-seat compartments.
According to the press service, the direct flight Kiev-Warsaw-Kiev continues to enjoy a rush demand. “Every day only in the mobile application UZ registers more than 3 thousand requests from passengers who are looking for tickets in this service, which is 10 times more than the availability of seats,” – states the company.
As reported there are 42 RIC cars in the fleet of UZ, two of which have been purchased from Krukiv Wagon Works.
In order to increase the number of trips to Poland from Ukraine after the full-scale invasion of Russia, UZ has launched new routes. In particular, “wide” routes have been retained on the route from Kiev to Chełm. Two daily flights conveniently connect with Polish flights to Warsaw. There are also night flights between Kiev and Peremyshl (two sleeper flights in addition to the two Intercity+ flights). Direct flights are launched from Kharkiv to Chelm, from Zaporizhzhya, Dnipro, Odessa, Vinnitsa, Khmelnitsky, Ternopil and Lviv to Peremyshl.
Non-rail carriages Vienna – Kiev, which departed from Vienna (Austria) on May 7, are delayed in transit for 6 hours due to a transport accident on the Hungarian railroad, Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) said on Facetbook on Monday.
As the company notes, after arriving at the Chop station, the cars will be included in the train number 82 Uzhgorod – Kiev and will arrive in the capital on May 9 (instead of May 8 at 19.30) as part of the train number 750.
“We draw the attention of Ukrainian passengers: the delay will also affect return trains to Vienna. Please take this into account when planning connections and departures from Budapest airport”, – pointed out in the UZ.
As reported, on Sunday morning, nine cars of the Hungarian 35-car freight train with iron ore derailed between stations Újfehértó and Hajdúhadház. Hungarian railroad workers had just begun to lift the wagons. Thus, the restoration of the railroad track and the contact network will last at least one day.
It is specified that train traffic between Hajdúhadház and Újfehértó is suspended. Hungarian Railways offers interchanges by substitute bus, and Hungarian and Austrian Intercity trains between Budapest and Zahony will run between Budapest and Nyiregyház via Miskolc with long travel times.
KP “Kharkiv Metro” warns passengers about possible difficulties due to the unstable situation with electricity.
“Due to the unstable situation in the regional energy network, temporary difficulties are possible with the transportation of passengers along the metro lines. Please understand the situation and apologize for the temporary inconvenience!”, the company’s telegram channel says.
On Tuesday morning, the subway suspended the transportation of passengers on all three lines for technical reasons. At the moment, the movement of trains has been resumed, but the intervals of movement have been increased to 20 minutes.
A trial train of 21 wagons with 1.2 thousand tons of feed corn has arrived in the port of Rostock (Germany), and soon three more trains with corn from Ukraine will enter the country, according to the website of the German publication NRD.
According to him, the train with corn was on the road for about eight days, which included reloading agricultural products into narrow-gauge wagons at the Ukrainian-Polish border, after which DB Cargo delivered the cargo to Rostock, where agricultural products were reloaded into port granaries. The publication clarifies that last year’s corn crop is in good condition.
It is specified that BAT Agrar from Ratzeburg (Germany) is coordinating the arrival of trains. It is not yet known where the agricultural products that arrived at the port of Rostock will go next.
“Due to Russia’s aggressive war in Ukraine, many export routes of local agriculture have become difficult or impossible. However, in accordance with the agreement, exports across the Black Sea have started again this month,” the publication recalled.
As reported, in April, the German concern Deutsche Bahn and its subsidiary logistics company DB Cargo began redirecting grain exports from Ukraine through the railway infrastructure instead of their traditional export through Ukrainian seaports, which were blocked by the Russian fleet at that time.
Michael Theurer, parliamentary secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Transport, said that Germany is obliged to ensure the shipment of 20 million tons of grain from Ukraine to prevent starvation on the planet.
