Ukraine Railway Assessment

Logistics Capacity Assessment > 2.4 Ukraine Railway Assessment > UKR_LCA_RailwayNetwork_A4L_20140616.jpg

The Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine functions as the main executive body that controls Ukraine's transportation infrastructure. This includes roads, trains, and communications.
Two third of Ukrainian railway lines are heavy-traffic, equipped with modern control means, dispatcher's warning and automatic block systems.

Ukrainian railway directly borders and cooperates with railways of Russia, Byelorussia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and ensures the work with 40 international railway cross-walks, and also serves 18 Ukrainian seaports of the Black Sea and Sea of Azov basin.
The railways are split into 6 territorial railway companies: Donets'k, Lviv, Odessa, Southern, South-Western and Near-Dnipro. The subdivision is purely administrative as it doesn't correspond to the particular railway lines or branches.

The six separate territorial railways each have their own directorates, located in the following cities:

Donetsk Railway – Donetsk

Lviv Railway – Lviv

Odessa Railway – Odessa

Southern Railway – Kharkiv

Southwestern Railway – Kiev

Near-Dnipro Railway – Dnipropetrovsk

The territorial railways are further divided into several territorial administrations usually four or five.

Such division helps in assignment of commuter railway lines depending on location.

Railway	Address	Website	Information
Donets Railway	83000. Donetsk, Artema street, 68,	railway.dn.ua	Donetsk railway is a constituent of the Ukrainian railway and lies on the territory of Donetsk and Lugansk, and partially Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhsk and Kharkiv regions of Ukraine. 4 rail traffic directorates are parts of the main line Total working mileage of the railway – 2927,6 km Donetsk railway services Donetsk and Lugansk, and partially Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhya and Kharkiv regions. It combines Donbas with the Upper-Dnipro region, central regions of Russia and Ukraine with Volga region and the Caucasus in the single transport conveyor. In the South Donetsk railway has an outlet to the sea of Azov through Mariupol commercial port. Total length of its tracks amounts to 13% of the total railway network length of Ukraine. At the same time 47% of loading and 36% unloading of all Ukrainian railways is due on its part.
Lviv Railway	79000 Lviv, Gogolya street, 1,	railway.lviv.ua	Lviv railway is an important center in transport operation between the Southern and Western Europe, as it borders on Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary.
Odessa Railwa	65023 Odessa, Pantelejmonivska street, 19,	railway odz.gov.ua	Odessa railway is an important constituent of the single transport conveyor of the southwestern Ukraine and is an integral part of the country’s railway. Almost 20% freight turnover, more than 16% passenger turnover of the Ukrainian railway is due on its part. The railway lies on the territory of 6 regions: Odessa, Mykolayiv, Kherson, Cherkasy, Kirogograd and Vinnytsa The main peculiarity of Odessa railway is its seaside and border position. The big sea and river ports linked to railways are located connecting external transport-economic ties with more than 70 countries of the world.
Southern Railway	61052 Kharkiv, Chervonoarmiyska street, 7	railway pz.gov.ua	Geographical location and coverage of the directions and districts of the Southern railway determine its big transit significance. It links Donbas with the capital of Ukraine and western regions and is situated on the main passenger way North — Crimea — Caucasus. The railway implements transportation service of the enterprises and population of 7 regions of Ukraine: Kharkhiv, Poltava, Symu, Kirovograd, Chernigiv, Lygansk, Donetsk It is linked to Southwestern, Donetsk, Near-Dnipro, Odessa and Southeastern railways.
South western Railway	01034 Kyiv,Lysenko str, 6	swrailway.gov.ua	Southwestern railway is one of the oldest railways of Ukraine and it has an administrative center the capital of Ukraine — city Kyiv. Total length of the railway — 4668 km. Main rack miles amounts to 6438,1 km. Electric traction carries out 93,3 % of all freight and passenger traffic. Field operation consists of 5 rail traffic directorates — Kyiv, Kozyatyn, Zhmerynka, Korosten, Konotop. Southwestern railway has 315 stations. 17 top-class railway terminals function on the main line
Prydniprovska Railway	9602 Dnipropetrovsk, K. Marksa prospect, 108,	dp.uz.gov.ua	Prydniprovska (Near-Dnipro) railway covers Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhya regions, Autonomous Republic of Crimea and certain regions of 5 more regions of Ukraine. Total working mileage of its tracks amounts to over 3250 kilometers, 58,3% of which are electrified and 83,5% of tracks are equipped with automatic traffic control and 90% of stations have power interlocking. 4 rail traffic directorates are parts of this railway branch. Transportation is performed by 244 stations, among them 4 sorting yards, 7 passengers, 67 freight and 19 districts. The territory of Prydniprovska Railway is also used as a transportation corridor for oil carriages

Ukraine Railway Statistics

Number of freight cars	8,429
Number of locomotives	2,718
Number of electric locomotives	1,796
Number of electric multiple units	1,443
Number of diesel multiple units	186
Number of employees	375,900
Number of specially branded passenger trains	62

The full extent of the railway system in Ukraine administrated by Ukrzaliznytsia is currently put at around 22,300 km, of which around 45% is fully electrified with the use of the overhead wire.

The network is fully interconnected, central-dispatched and consists of 1,648 stations of all sizes spread throughout the country.

The largest stations are Nyzhnodniprovsk-Vuzol (in the city of Dnipropetrovsk) and Darnytsia (in the capital Kiev) – both freight.

Total rail length, km	Electrified, km	Electrification system	Gauge, mm
22,300.00	5,325.20	25 kV AC – 50 Hz	1,520 (350.1 km - 1,435)
22,300.00	4,763.00	3 kV DC	1,520 (350.1 km - 1,435)

Railway Companies and Consortia

The State Administration of Railway Transport of Ukraine ‘Ukrzaliznytsia’ (UZ) was established in 1991 to centralise management of the country’s rail network after Ukraine declared independence.

The enabling legislation transferred control of 6 regional companies to UZ. At present, UZ combines both public administration functions and those of a commercial operator.

It monitors and manages the activities of the regional railways and oversees their operational and financial performance. However, they are still directly owned by the state and technically are subsidiaries of UZ, controlling the Ukrainian railway assets.

UZ carries as much freight as the western EU-15 countries and as many passengers as the central and eastern EU-10 countries.

UZ, a monopoly that controls the vast majority of the railroad transportation in Ukraine, reportedly plans to invest more than USD 1 bn in the modernisation of its stock in 2013.

At the same time, UZ announced that it does not have enough funds to implement the project and hopes for state support. This is due to the fact that its activities have been unprofitable in recent years. For example, losses from passenger traffic made up approximately USD 977 M in 2012 as no financial compensation for Public Service

Obligations (PSOs) is paid by public authorities to UZ or to regional railway companies. In such a context, profits from the freight activity are just financing losses of the unprofitable passenger business, and are not used to invest in the renewal of assets necessary for the freight business.

Since the 2010 elections, new proposals for partial privatisation of UZ have been brought forward.

In March 2012 the President of Ukraine signed a law that paved the way for the privatisation of hundreds of state-owned companies previously considered as strategic assets. According to this law, the new rail entity will be created as a public JSC with 100% of the shares owned by the state through the merger of the State Rail Transport

Administration, Ukrzaliznytsia, and public railway enterprises, institutions, and organisations. In addition, the company's charter capital will include shares and stakes owned by the state in companies created with the participation of railway transport enterprises. The law on the specifics of the creation of a state JSC of public railway

transport provides that the railway infrastructure is not to be transferred to the charter capital of that company, while 100% of its shares will be in state ownership.

Under the plan presented to Parliament, UZ would be restructured as a JSC by 2015. The infrastructure and traction would remain under state control, while the six regional companies would be merged into a single legal entity. The basic infrastructure department is meant to enjoy financial autonomy.

At the end of 2011 and beginning of 2012, the rolling stock was transferred to state owned entities within the UZ structure and started being operated as private wagons and no longer as inventory wagon fleet. The badly-regulated process took an unduly long time and seriously affected the operations of UZ's customers.

Later the stock could be handed over to private companies responsible for investing in renewals. The government of Ukraine is considering the possibility of granting permission to private companies to start railway passenger transportations within the country.

UZ is designing a new legislative base for the attraction of private investors to the development of the national railway infrastructure involving the adoption of a compensation mechanism to private investors for their investments in the development of Ukraine’s public railways.

For information on Ukraine Railways company contact details, please see the following link:

4.2.10 Ukraine Railway Company Contact List

Capacity Table

In 2013, the cargo rolling stock consists of 190,000 units, of which 130,000 are publicly owned under UZ control and 60,000 are privately owned wagons.

The cargo rolling stock includes 1,900 electric locomotives and 2,500 diesel ones. Rolling stock renewal is a key priority for UZ.

In 2006 UZ embarked on a major programme of rolling stock renewal and modernisation at its own workshops. As far as possible the new stock is being built by Ukrainian companies, but to the latest international specifications.

In 2013 UZ and Luhanskteplovoz signed a MoU for the supply of 300 electric locomotives at USD 1.4 bn. The production began in 2013, with deliveries scheduled to be completed by the end of 2016.

In 2007, UZ signed an agreement with Siemens for the joint development of a dual-system AC-motored electric locomotive DC-4, intended for operation at a speed of 200 km/h. Between 2009 and 2014 UZ expects to take delivery of 50 DC-4s, with the first 10 being built in Germany and the remainder assembled locally by the Zaporizkhky Locomotive Plant.

In 2012, the EBRD has agreed to provide a USD 62.5 M loan to UZ for the purchase of freight wagons as part of the country's rolling stock modernisation programme. EBRD provided another loan of USD 62.5 M to UZ in 2009 to replace old freight wagons as part of its fleet renewal programme. The bank also offered a loan of USD 13 M in December 2011 to JSC Lugcentrokuz (LCK), an Ukrainian engineering and industrial company specialising in the production of forged and stamped steel equipment for the rail industry, to improve freight transportation services as well as manufacturing of components for freight wagons.

EBRD is also funding for about USD 90 M together with private banks (Raiffeisen Bank, Unicredit Bank and Erste Bank), new wagons acquisition by a private wagon-fleet owner and manager at InterleaseInvest.

A joint project ‘Introduction of High-speed Passenger Trains on the Ukrainian Railways’ is being implemented with the participation of EBRD. The total value of the project amounts to USD 200 M including an EBRD loan of USD 120 M. This was supposed to complement the new EMUs trainsets produced by Hyundai Rotem to operate during the football championship EURO 2012.

These interregional trains began to run on the railways of Ukraine from May 27, 2012 under the name ‘Ukrainian Express’. In December 2012, due to a sharp deterioration of weather conditions in Ukraine, the majority of these trains broke down.

Ukraine has its own prototype of high-speed train, but the domestic producer Kriukov Car Plant reportedly sets unreasonable prices for its model.

Additional Information

Ukraine Border Corssing Information

Ukraine Information on how to contract transportation by rail