Ukraine: first European gauge railway track opens with EU support
On 5 September, Ukraine opened its first railway track with the European track width standard. The new 22-km line connects the city of Uzhhorod on the border with Slovakia with the city of Chop on the Hungarian border. The railway track construction was sponsored by the European Investment Bank (EIB) with an additional EU grant from the Connecting Europe Facility.
The new track has a gauge of 1,435mm – the standard for trans-European rail networks – while the rest of Ukraine’s rail network uses broad gauge (1,520mm). As a result, rail travel journey times between Uzhhorod and Chop and to cities in Slovakia, Hungary, and Austria will be reduced, as the trains will not have to change the tracks at the border. As part of the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes initiative, the new line will also help to increase the volume of transported goods.
The inauguration ceremony took place in Uzhhorod and was attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ambassador of the European Union to Ukraine Katarína Mathernová.
Ambassador Mathernová said: “Ukrzaliznytsia has become a true lifeline during Russia’s war of aggression – for citizens seeking safety, for businesses sustaining the economy, and as a channel of ‘iron diplomacy’, bringing world leaders to Ukraine in solidarity and support.”
“This is an important stage in developing a European railway network in Ukraine, and we will continue to build at an even faster pace,” said the Chairman of the Management Board of JSC Ukrainian Railways, Oleksandr Pertsovskyi. “Already in 2026, we plan to electrify this section and begin construction of the European-gauge line towards Lviv, which we intend to complete within two to three years.”
The new Uzhhorod-Chop track was co-financed in equal parts by an EIB loan guaranteed by the Ukraine Facility and a grant from the European Commission’s Connecting Europe Facility transport programme, overseen by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). JSC Ukrainian railways carried out the project.
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