“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.
The China-Europe freight train with household goods, which departed from Guangzhou on May 29, arrived at the DP World TIS Pivdennyi unloading sea container terminal, the press service of the Ukrainian logistics company UNI-LAMAN GROUP, which is the initiator and organizer of this project, said on Tuesday night.
According to the operator, the train arrived on June 19, but the official welcoming ceremony took place on Tuesday, June 22. The trip from Guangzhou to Odessa region took 22 days. The train ran through China, Mongolia, Russia, Ukraine, through the customs posts Erlian – Zamyn-Üüd, Naushki – Sükhbaatar, Valuiki – Topoli, Chornomorska station – TIS and covered 8,408 km.
UNI-LAMAN GROUP said that this train transported fifty containers of cargo, including: furniture, electrical equipment and other goods.
“This train will help entrepreneurs receive goods from Guangdong and other southern provinces twice as fast, along with a similar delivery by sea. Today, we see a great demand for this route, so we do not want to be satisfied with what has already been achieved and will direct our efforts towards further fruitful cooperation with China to expand trade between our countries. By the end of the year, we plan to increase the number of these trains to ten per month and make regular trips from other provinces of China,” the press service said, citing UNI-LAMAN GROUP Board Chairman Hennadiy Sorochynsky.
The train will run on a regular schedule, which is included in the schedule of the state railway of China.
JSC Ukrzaliznytsia is launching a Kiev-Vienna train since June, which will pass through the territory of Ukraine, Austria and Hungary, the Ukrzaliznytsia’s press service reported on Sunday.
The restoration of international railway traffic became possible with the assistance of the railway authorities of Austria and Hungary thanks to the stabilization of the situation with the coronavirus pandemic.
“The first train from Kiev to Vienna will start on June 1, so Ukrzaliznytsia passengers have a great opportunity to start their summer with a visit to Austria. In the future, the train will run daily according to the following schedule: it will depart from the Central Kiev Station at 02:07 pm, will pass through Budapest (arrival at 8:20 am) and arrive in Vienna at 11:21 am the next day. In the opposite direction (from June 2) the train will depart at 4:42 pm and arrive in Kiev at 5:22 pm the next day,” Ukrzaliznytsia said.
Tickets for the Kiev – Vienna train can be purchased at the international ticket offices of the stations.
“Passengers can find out up-to-date information on the rules for the entry of Ukrainian citizens into the territory of Austria and Hungary, as well as citizens of these countries in Ukraine, through the official sources of the embassies of Ukraine in Austria and Hungary and the embassies of these countries in Ukraine,” Ukrzaliznytsia said.
