Ukrzaliznytsia plans to start restoring international passenger traffic in June, according to a message posted on the company’s website on Thursday.
According to it, in particular, preliminary agreements have already been reached on the resumption of railway communication with Austria and Hungary. In addition, negotiations are underway with PKP Intercity and the Polish railway to restore high-speed communication between the countries.
“Now in Ukraine and neighboring countries, there is a stabilization of the situation with the spread of coronavirus infection. This allows negotiations with the railway administrations of neighboring countries to restore international routes. Last week, we examined the readiness of infrastructure in the west of the country, bordering on European countries. There we started a number of projects. Therefore, I can say with confidence that Ukrzaliznytsia is ready to restore these transportations,” the press service quoted acting head of the company Ivan Yuryk as saying.
According to the company, Ukrzaliznytsia has already received approval for the running of Kyiv-Vienna direct cars since June. In addition, there are plans to restore trains running on the Chop – Zahony (Hungary) route. The message states that after the restoration of international passenger traffic, passengers will also be able to purchase tickets to Belarus and back online.
At the same time, Yuryk stressed that control over compliance with anti-epidemiological measures will be strengthened on international routes.
JSC Ukrzaliznytsia resumes the sale of railway tickets to Zhytomyr region due to its exit from the “red” zone of anti-epidemic measures, since May 5, passenger trains run throughout the country without restrictions, the press service of the company reports. “On May 5, Wednesday, from 24:01, Zhytomyr region, the last region with existing railway restrictions, leaves the ‘red’ zone of epidemic danger. Now restrictive anti-epidemic measures provided for the ‘yellow’ level, will be applied in the region” the message posted on the official website of Ukrzaliznytsia on Tuesday says.
This decision was made at an extraordinary meeting of the State Commission on Environmental Safety, Manmade Disaster and Emergency Response on May 4, on Tuesday.
“Now all trains in the country run in accordance with the schedule, there are no quarantine restrictions on railway traffic now,” the report said.
JSC Ukrzaliznytsia and Pesa Bydgoszcz S.A. (Poland) have discussed a cooperation program for the restoration of Polish-made diesel trains.
According to the press service of the company, with reference to acting chairman of the board of Ukrzaliznytsia Ivan Yuryk, following the results of his meeting with the president and management of Pesa Bydgoszcz S.A. on April 22, Ukrzaliznytsia also invited Polish colleagues to cooperate within the City Express project.
According to Yuryk, currently only four of the 14 Pesa rail buses operated by Ukrzaliznytsia are in working order.
“Some of these trains are used on the route of the Boryspil express. Therefore, it is important for us to prepare them qualitatively and in advance for the expected revival of passenger traffic, after the renewal of international air traffic volumes,” the expert noted.
The parties agreed that Ukrzaliznytsia, together with the manufacturing plant, will conduct a detailed technical assessment of the condition of the rolling stock and develop the best repair program.
In addition, as noted, a preliminary agreement was reached within the direct cooperation of Pesa on training Ukrainian train maintenance specialists.
According to Ukrzaliznytsia, the Polish manufacturer showed interest in Ukrzaliznytsia’s plans to renew its locomotive fleet and, subject to long-term funding programs, passenger trains for interregional transportation. Ukrzaliznytsia will provide its colleagues with the necessary technical requirements and will conduct joint consultations to develop the projects.
JSC Ukrzaliznytsia received UAH 11.9 billion in net loss in 2020 (compared to UAH 2.988 billion in net profit in 2019).
Such data are contained in the consolidated financial statements over 2020, released on the company’s website on Friday, confirmed by the leading international audit company Ernst & Young.
According to the company’s website, the result of Ukrzaliznytsia was significantly influenced by a decrease in income from freight and passenger traffic compared to 2019 by 10.3% and 58.3%, respectively, as well as a significant fluctuation in exchange rate differences, as a result of which a net loss was received from exchange rate differences in the amount of UAH 5.5 billion compared to UAH 4.3 billion of net profit in 2019.
The volume of revenues from freight traffic in 2020 was affected by the factor of a large share in the transportation of non-class goods, the tariff for the movement of which is much lower than the economically justified one, the press service of UZ said on Tuesday.
Ukrzaliznytsia notes that the company has already initiated the transfer of non-class cargo to the first class in the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine. It is about the liberalization of tariff formation in freight traffic and the need to get rid of the atavisms that have existed since Soviet times, when goods are divided into classes. The classifier determines which coefficient is added to the tariff. The logic of this division was that the tariff for the carriage of goods depended on its value, which is not relevant in a market economy.
This year, UZ plans to transport 314 million tonnes of cargo, which is almost 3% more than in 2020.
As reported with reference to UZ, Ukrzaliznytsia in September-December 2020 increased its revenue from cargo transportation to UAH 22.04 billion. During this period, the average monthly income from cargo transportation amounted to UAH 5.5 billion, which is 4.5% more than in July-August and 7.9% more than in January-June 2020.
JSC Ukrzaliznytsia notes an increase in passenger traffic and ticket sales since the beginning of 2021 compared to the autumn-winter period of 2020.
According to chairman of the board Volodymyr Zhmak, in the first week of February 2021 the company carried 357,600 passengers, which is 40% more than in mid-December 2020, and the number of tickets sold increased by 9%, to almost 440,000.
“The trend has begun to change – we are increasing passenger traffic and ticket sales compared to the autumn months of 2020. Of course, we are far from the pre-COVID level, but we are moving in a positive trend. Thanks to what? Thanks to innovative approaches to the formation of new trains, the opening of new routes, optimization of traffic – we are reducing the time for trains on many routes,” Zhmak said.
