JSC Ukrzaliznytsia and Deutsche Bahn Engineering & Consulting have entered into an agreement on consulting in the field of passenger transportation, according to a posting on the Facebook page of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine.
This is about improving the planning and development of passenger rail transport, optimizing purchases and renewing rolling stock.
Deutsche Bahn will help Ukrzaliznytsia to separate passenger from freight traffic and ensure efficient management. Consulting is the first stage of cooperation, which will be implemented by the end of 2021. After its successful implementation at the second stage, Ukrzaliznytsia will engage a team of Deutsche Bahn managers to directly manage passenger traffic in 2022.
“Transfer of Ukrzaliznytsia to the management of passenger transportation by DB Consulting is the first systematic step towards a complete transformation of railway transportation in Ukraine,” Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov said.
According to him, with this project the state begins Big Construction project at Ukrzaliznytsia, which will impact the entire infrastructure, rolling stock fleet and service.
“The agreement signed today is the first stage of cooperation, and we expect that, based on its results, we will move on to the next stage already at the beginning of 2022, when the team of German managers will be delegated for the operational management of passenger traffic in Ukraine,” the Ministry of Infrastructure said, citing Member of the Management Board for Infrastructure at Deutsche Bahn AG Ronald Pofalla.
According to acting Board Chairman of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia Oleksandr Kamyshin, DB E&C is to develop a roadmap for the implementation of long-distance and suburban passenger transportation for the next five years and a model for financing passenger transportation.
“In the process of reforming the industry, we must change the long-standing practice of passenger transportation being financed by freight. These are separate areas of our company’s business, and they must be accounted for and financed separately. Therefore, we expect our consultant to develop an effective financial model for passenger transportation,” Kamyshin said.
In addition, DB E&C experts should determine the traffic volumes and the estimated capital investment needs of Ukrzaliznytsia to renew the rolling stock for use in Public Service Obligations (PSO) model.
The service provider will also provide an assessment of the prospects for the purchase and production of passenger rolling stock – regional electric trains, diesel trains, night train cars – and the possibility of producing such rolling stock within the framework of international cooperation with the participation of a Ukrainian manufacturer.
As reported, in August, Ukrzaliznytsia and DB Engineering & Consulting began cooperation to develop a new energy efficiency strategy for the company.
The French concern Alstom welcomes the ratification of an intergovernmental agreement between France and Ukraine on financing the supply of 130 heavy-duty electric locomotives for Ukrzaliznytsia, the company’s press service has said.
“The next important step is the signing of commercial agreements in the second half of 2021,” the company said.
According to the press release, this will allow Alstom to begin supplying locomotives to the Ukrainian market, which will also provide for 35% localization associated with the production and maintenance of electric locomotives.
As reported, Ukraine and France in May signed an intergovernmental agreement on financing the supply by Alstom of 130 heavy-duty electric locomotives for Ukrzaliznytsia for up to EUR 900 million.
This agreement was ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on July 1, 2021.
Alstom is one of the world leaders (along with Siemens and Bombardier) in the production of power equipment and railway transport. It operates in more than 70 countries and employs about 70,000 people.
JSC Ukrzaliznytsia has signed an agreement with PJSC Kriukov Car Building Works (KCBW) on the supply of 100 new passenger cars.
“This story had a success!” Ukrzaliznytsia signed an agreement with KCBW for the supply of 100 passenger cars. For the first time in the history of the country, such a number of cars will be purchased at the expense of the state,” Head of Ukrzaliznytsia Ivan Yuryk wrote on his Facebook page.
He said that these will be cars of domestic production. Accordingly, Ukrzaliznytsia with this purchase will support machine building and the country’s economy.
According to Yuryk, the wishes of passengers were taken into account in the development of technical documentation. Consequently, the company will receive modern carriages, in which everything to the smallest detail will be provided for the comfort of passengers.
As noted in a posting on the Ukrzaliznytsia’s website, the first batch of cars – at least 20 units – will be delivered by the end of this year.
“These cars will be used to transport passengers on the most popular routes. All cars under the signed agreement are to be delivered by the manufacturer by the end of next year. That is, they will enter the routes before the peak winter traffic of the 2022/23season,” Yuryk said.
The company also said that in 2021-2023, UAH 40.4 billion can be allocated from the state budget of Ukraine to renew the passenger rolling stock.
Earlier, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine recognized the provision of these funds as admissible state aid to Ukrzaliznytsia.
According to information posted in the ProZorro platform, KCBW will supply these 100 cars for UAH 3.042 billion. The purchase included four lots with the following items: 51 compartment cars, 12 luxury cars, 20 compartment cars with the ability to transport people with disabilities in a wheelchair, 17 compartment cars with a train manager’s compartment and with the ability to transport people with disabilities in a wheelchair.
Ukrzaliznytsia announced a tender for the purchase of 100 passenger cars with a total estimated cost of UAH 3.044 billion through the ProZorro state electronic platform in February this year.
In 2020, Ukrzaliznytsia acquired 28 new passenger cars for its own funds, compared with 19 in 2019. Thirteen cars were overhauled, and 439 cars passed first degree overhaul.
JSC Ukrzaliznytsia assessed the management personnel and decided to reduce the staff of the company’s management staff by 30%, the press service of Ukrzaliznytsia reported with reference to acting head of the board of Ukrzaliznytsia Ivan Yuryk on Monday.
According to him, by now the supervisory board of the company has already agreed on a new structure of the company’s central office, the reduction of one third of employees will take place within the framework of its reform: it should correspond to the strategy, tasks and scope of work.
“There was a lot of talk about optimization of the Ukrzaliznytsia staff, it’s time to move on to action. We should put things in order as soon as possible in the structure of the company’s management apparatus, eliminate duplication of positions and clearly distribute the functionality between departments. This will allow us to make and implement management decisions much faster, efficiently and effectively. Now it is necessary to reduce 30% of the staff positions of the management apparatus of the company, which employs more than 2,400 people,” the press service quotes Yuryk.
At the same time, Ukrzaliznytsia says that the reduction will not apply to employees of regional branches of the company and employees of labor occupations.
According to Yuryk, the dismissal of workers will take place in compliance with the labor legislation and in agreement with the trade union, for this the company has developed a certain algorithm of actions.
“Employees whose positions are subject to reduction will be promptly warned about this, with an offer of another job. Upon dismissal, they will receive all proper payments and severance pay in the amount of not less than the average monthly salary,” the head of the company said.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation between JSC Ukrzaliznytsia and Stadler on May 7 following talks with representatives of the Office of the President of Ukraine, the Ministry of Strategic Industries and the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine.
Currently, Stadler will be looking for a site for the construction of a plant for the production of suburban trains and city trams. The next steps will be technology transfer and employee training to ensure product quality that meets the company’s standards. This plant will focus on domestic Ukrainian consumers, participation in tenders, as well as on the export of products to other countries, the President’s Office said on its website on Friday.
“We fully support such investments in our country. Ukraine is interested in such cooperation, and we discussed such opportunities during the official visit of the President of the Swiss Confederation to Ukraine,” Zelensky said at a meeting with Peter Christoph Spuhler, President of the Board of Directors of one of the world’s leading rolling stock manufacturers – the Swiss company Stadler CIS AG, and Alexander Luft, CEO of Stadler CIS AG.
Cooperation with Stadler will also contribute to the implementation of the project of high-quality suburban railway service City Express, the first stage of which is to be implemented in Kyiv, Dnipro and Kharkiv, the message reads.
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.
