In January-August 2023, Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) renewed 854.3 km of tracks with various types of repairs, which is 22% more than in the same period in 2022, the company’s press service said on Monday.
According to the release, in January-August 2023, 217.4 km of track was overhauled with new materials, which is 55% more than in the same period last year, while 119.4 km of track was restored using suitable materials that were already available.
“The average repair was carried out on 517.5 km of track, which is 17% more than in the same period in 2022,” UZ said.
In addition, Ukrzaliznytsia overhauled 104 sets of turnouts with new materials and overhauled 67 sets with existing materials. A total of 440 sets of switches were overhauled.
As reported, the Cabinet of Ministers allowed Ukrzaliznytsia to use EUR 100 million for urgent needs from the balance of the EUR 150 million loan from the European Investment Bank approved in 2016, which was originally planned to be used for the construction of a second track, electrification and modernization of signaling and communication systems on the Dolynska-Mykolaiv-Kolosivka route.
Passengers have bought 183,500 bags of Gemini tea worth over UAH 3.6 million on Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) trains, of which UAH 1 million will be used to purchase Ukrainian FPV drones Hrom, Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov said on his Telegram account.
“Everyone who travels by train can help the Defense Forces. To do this, you need to buy Gemini tea. Part of the funds from each bag will be used to buy drones for the military,” the minister emphasized.
UZ noted that such tea can be ordered in the app, chatbot, or on the website, as well as directly on the train (except for Intercity+). The cost of the drink is UAH 20, of which UAH 5.5 from each bag goes to raise funds that will be transferred through the UNITED24 platform for the purchase of Ukrainian-made FPV copters “Thunder”. The cost of one such drone is UAH 21 thousand.
JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia” (UZ) in January-August transported 10.5% less cargo than in the same period last year – 94.9 million tons, deputy director of the department of commercial work of “UZ” Valery Tkachev said at a meeting of the Export Office on Wednesday.
At the same time in August the volume of transportation amounted to 12.3 million tons, which is 13.8% more than in August last year.
Tkachev noted that the said reduction in the volume of cargo transportation for the first eight months of this year was mainly due to a decrease in the volume of their transportation in the export direction: in January-August it decreased by 14.8% compared to the same period last year, to 34.8 million tons.
“The situation with transportation in the export direction is not very good. Last month we transported only 3.3 million tons of cargo in export traffic. The reason is the closure of the “grain corridor” and the introduction of restrictions on the western border regarding the acceptance of grain. Therefore, unfortunately, our export transportation has decreased. The best indicator was in September (2022), when we transported 5.2 million tons in export traffic. But now, due to the decline in grain transportation, we have the current indicators,” Tkachev said during the meeting.
According to him, as a result of the decline in grain cargo exports, there have been changes in the structure of transportation – iron ore has taken the first place.
“The first place in transportation in export traffic is occupied by iron and manganese ore – 42% of the total volume. Grain takes the second position – 27%, in the third place ferrous metals – 11%”, – said the deputy director of the department of commercial work of “UZ”.
Thus, in January-August the volume of ore transportation amounted to 11.49 million tons, which is 38.3% less compared to the same period last year. The volume of ferrous metals transportation in export traffic decreased by 29.7%, to 3.03 million tons, oil increased by 21%, to 826 thousand tons, building materials fell by 47.5%, to 1.036 million tons, cement increased by 37.4%, to 791 thousand tons.
The volume of grain cargo exports in August amounted to 876 thousand tons, which is 8.8% more than in July. Of this volume, 358 thousand tons of corn, 225 thousand tons of wheat, 235 thousand tons of industrial seeds and 58 thousand tons of other seeds were transported. In the direction of sea ports 143 thousand tons were transported, through land border crossings 733 thousand tons, which is 8.8% more than in July.
For eight months, the volume of grain transportation amounted to 14.75 million tons, which is 27.6% more compared to the same period last year. “Since June 29, the work of the Grain Corridor has been completely blocked. Massive strikes carried out by the aggressor in July-August on the Odessa region resulted in damage to the infrastructure of international and Ukrainian traders in Odessa and Danube ports. “In addition, since May 2, the European Commission has banned the supply of wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower seeds from Ukraine to five countries – Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia – until September 15, 2023,” UZ points out.
“It is pleasing that the volume of grain transportation in the direction of western land crossings began to grow. Already up to 500 railcars per day we transfer to the western BCPs. Let me remind you that in the best times we used to transfer 680 wagons per day and transported 1 million tons of grain across the western borders per month. After the restrictions, the volumes fell to 370-400 cars and 0.5 million tons of grain. Now the situation is normalizing,” – said Tkachev.
It is noted that the cargo flow through land crossings at the end of August amounted to 2.83 million tons, or 86% of the total export traffic by rail. Mostly cargoes went through Chop – 684 thousand tons, Uzhgorod – 396 thousand tons, Batievo – 241 thousand tons, Vadul-Siret – 206 thousand tons, Yagodin – 163 thousand tons. Seaports handled 476 thousand tons of cargo in August, or 14% of the total volume transported by UZ.
In “UZ” also specified that following the results of August seaports handled 476 thousand tons of cargoes, or 14% of the total volume of transportation by rail in the export direction. Of this volume, only Izmail ICC processed 433 thousand tons of cargo.
JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia” (UZ) announced online auctions for the lease of space at 21 railway stations. It is planned to put on Prozorro.Sales 53 objects, including at the stations in Kiev, Lviv, Uzhgorod, Truskavets, Krivoy Rog, Dnipro, Odessa, reported UZ on the page in Facebook.
“Ukrzaliznytsia stations continue to open their doors for business: online auctions for the lease of space at 21 stations have been announced. Food courts, cafes, bookstores, pharmacies, financial zones, beauty salons, flower stores…. We are confident that the changes are overdue, and they must be transparent,” the statement said.
The first online auctions in the Prozorro.Sales system will take place already on September 18. Winners of electronic bidding will be able to conclude lease agreements for two years and 360 days with the possibility of prolongation. At the first stage will be exhibited mainly zones with a small area, designed for vending machines, coffee machines, ATMs and terminals. In Kiev, zones for five ATMs and cafes are offered for rent.
UZ noted that they have studied the experience of train stations and airports in Europe, attracted local businesses and architects for consultations. In cooperation with Urban Experts, they defined the principles of zoning and a list of services that should be mandatory for railway stations.
Ukrzaliznytsia JSC (UZ) has launched ticket sales for the new international train 119/120 Kyiv – Chełm, with the first flight on September 3.
“Departure from Kyiv is at 06:28, from Rivne at 11:27, from Kovel at 13:31, and arrival in Chełm at 17:27. No border crossing at night and an easy transfer to the Polish intercity IC21100 to Warsaw (18:12-21:02),” UZ said in a telegram on Saturday.
“Return departure from Chełm is at 10:23 (transfer from the IC12100 Warsaw Skhidnya train 06:05 – Chełm 08:42), arrival in Kyiv at 22:45,” UZ informed.
The first flight is on September 3, tickets are available in the Ukrzaliznytsia app.
Due to a month of scheduled repairs of railway infrastructure in Przemyśl (Poland) in September, Ukrzaliznytsia JSC (UZ) will cancel a number of trains in this direction, assigning a new train to Chełm and changing the schedules of several operating trains, the UZ press service reported on Telegram.
“On September 8, Polish Railways will start the planned infrastructure repairs in Przemyśl. This could have meant the cancellation of all flights in this direction, but together with our Polish colleagues, we minimized the impact of the repair work,” UZ said.
For the duration of the repair work, from September 7 to October 6, train services #89/90 Kyiv-Premysl and #73/74 Kharkiv-Premysl departing from Kyiv and Kharkiv will be canceled, the statement said.
At the same time, a new train No. 119/120 Kyiv-Chelm will be launched on September 3, which will become the third daily train to Chełm. The train will depart from Kyiv at 6:28 and arrive in Chełm at 17:27, conveniently connecting with the Polish IC 21100, which departs from Chełm at 18:12 and arrives at Warsaw Skhidna station at 21:02. In the opposite direction, the IC12100 train arrives in Chełm at 8:42 a.m., which will allow for a transfer to a train at 10:23 a.m. arriving in Kyiv at 22:45 p.m., the UZ press service said, noting that passengers of the newly designated train will not be checked at the border at night.
“This flight will be convenient for those who have flights from Warsaw Chopin Airport after 23:00 or early in the morning (Cairo, Ostrava, Munich, Paris, Frankfurt, Vienna),” the UZ press service said.
During the “repair month,” two Intercity+ trains will continue to run on Fridays and Saturdays, departing from Kyiv on September 7-8, 14-15, 21-22. In particular, the existing Intercity+ train No. 705/706 Kyiv-Premysl and the new train No. 707/708 Kyiv-Premysl will depart from Kyiv at 22:17 and arrive in Przemyśl at 6:23, and return from Przemyśl at 11:15, arriving in Kyiv at 20:41.
Trains #53/54 Kyiv-Premysl, #89/90 Kyiv-Premysl, #31/32 Zaporizhzhia-Premysl, #35/36 Odesa-Premysl, #73/74 Kharkiv-Premysl, #715/716 Kyiv-Premysl will be canceled on September 7-8, 14-15, 21-22.
Due to repairs in September, the schedule of trains #54 and #36 will also be changed. Train #54 Przemyśl-Kyiv will depart from Przemyśl at 13:45 (instead of 20:28) and arrive in Kyiv at 5:34 (instead of 9:00). Train No. 36 Przemyśl-Odesa will depart at 13:45 (instead of 20:28) and arrive in Odesa at 8:10 am.
Thus, despite the repairs near Przemysl, the number of seats offered by UZ to Poland in September will even increase by about 100 due to the new flight to Chełm (three pairs of trains on weekends), UZ emphasized, noting that after the repair work is completed in October, if popular, the additional flight to Chełm will be maintained. In this case, the number of tickets to Poland will increase by 10%.
