In 2024, Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) increased the volume of freight transportation by 17.9% year-on-year to 174.9 million tons.
“At the end of 2024, 174.9 million tons were transported by rail in Ukraine, which is 26.5 million tons, or 17.9%, more than last year (2023 – IF-U),” UZ said in an analytical note.
It is reported that the opportunity to increase the volume of rail transportation exists thanks to the Ukrainian sea corridor. The bulk of the cargo traffic is made up of products of farmers and metallurgists transported for export.
Exports were the main driver of rail transportation in 2024, with a share of 48% in total freight traffic, compared to only 38% in 2023. Import cargo transportation volumes in 2024 increased by 40.9% compared to 2023 to 9.63 million tons. Domestic transportation decreased by 5.5% to 80.2 million tons. While in 2023 the share of domestic transportation in total cargo traffic was 57%, in 2024 it decreased to 46%.
In total, in 2024, UZ transported 84.67 million tons in the export direction, which is 51.2% more than in 2023. The largest volume of cargo grains was transported – 34.13 million tons (40% of the volume transported for export), iron and manganese ore – 33.00 million tons (39%), and ferrous metals – 5.17 million tons (6%).
In 2024, 29.2 million tons of grain cargo (86%) was transported to ports, which is twice as much as in 2023. Only 4.9 mln tonnes of grain were transported via land border crossings, which is 41.6% less than in 2023.
In general, the volume of transportation through land border crossings in 2024 decreased by 8.6% compared to 2023, to 30.9 million tons or 37% of the volume of export transportation of all types of cargo. “UZ has 19 railway border crossings, of which 15 are operational.
The volume of transportation to ports in 2024 increased by 2.4 times compared to 2023 to 53.76 million tons. In total cargo exports, their share in 2024 was 63%.
According to the results of 2024, the leading positions in terms of cargo exports are held by the stations: “Chornomorsk (17%), Berehove (14%), Odesa Port (13%), Chornomorsk Port (12%), Izov (11%), Chop (7%), Uzhhorod (6%), and Izmail (4%).
Earlier it was reported that the volume of cargo transportation by UZ in the first 11 months of 2024 increased by 19.4% to 160.9 million tons.
