Ukrzaliznytsia continues to develop infrastructure for integration into the EU and has started the construction of the European railway route Chop-Uzhhorod – one of the projects of the strategic program for the development of railway infrastructure for Ukraine’s integration into the EU, this is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

The construction of the European route Chop-Uzhhorod has begun

On April 11, in the presence of the Prime Minister of Ukraine and the Chairman of the Board of JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia”, the laying of the first section of the track of the new European route took place.

“Today we are launching the construction process of an important project – creating the first European route from Chop to Uzhhorod. This project will not only improve passenger transportation comfort and redistribute passenger flow but also provide us with new logistical opportunities for freight transportation, relieve automobile border checkpoints. Uzhhorod becomes the first regional center to have a connection with Europe via a railway route of European standard,” noted Denys Shmyhal.

The construction of the European route Chop-Uzhhorod has begun

“We have started the implementation of the project, completing preparatory work, and the main construction stage will begin in May. The project documentation and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) were developed using state budget funds in 2021-2022. The project will be implemented with 50% grant co-financing from the EU Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) fund. Ukrzaliznytsia obtained the opportunity to implement this project as a result of successful participation in the CEF project competition in 2022. The total project cost is 1.3 billion UAH. The project implementation period is 14 months,” announced the head of Ukrzaliznytsia,Yevhen Liashchenko.

The construction of the European route Chop-Uzhhorod has begun

The project includes:

• Construction of a 22 km railway line of European standard

• Reconstruction of structures, facilities, and engineering networks

• Equipping the track with two-way semi-automatic blocking and microprocessor-based dispatching center devices.

The project implementation will enable the launch of direct passenger routes along the European route from Uzhhorod to European countries, as well as facilitate transfers from trains from all regions of Ukraine for further travel to European countries.

In addition, the next stage is planned for the electrification of the new European route with a gauge of 1435 mm on the Chop-Uzhhorod section.

Yevhen Liashchenko announced that Ukrzaliznytsia has applied to participate in the new CEF project competition for grant co-financing.

Furthermore, a technical and economic feasibility study for the possible extension of the European route from Uzhhorod to Lviv is planned, which will be an important step for Lviv’s accession to two TEN-T European Transport Corridors – the Rhine-Danube and the Mediterranean.

Photo source: Ukrzaliznytsia

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