Ukrzaliznytsia Train with Ukrainian-Gauge Coaches Completes Test Journey to Warsaw

A test train composed of 14 standard coaches from Ukrzaliznytsia, the national railway company of Ukraine, successfully embarked on its journey to Warsaw on May 31st, according to the railway journal Railway Supply, citing Ukrzaliznytsia.

“Previously, all the tests were conducted, and we understand that our standard coaches can travel from Kyiv to Warsaw and back without any obstacles. I hope that today is the final test run, after which we will receive approval from the Polish side. This will allow us to increase the capacity of direct connections between the Ukrainian and Polish capitals by 2-3 times,” said Yevhen Lyashchenko, the Chairman of the Board of Ukrzaliznytsia.

Currently, the direct Kyiv-Warsaw route remains the most insufficient direction. Every day, the mobile application of Ukrzaliznytsia receives over 3,000 requests from passengers seeking tickets for this connection, which is ten times more than the available seats.

TEPLOLUX-DNEPR: Railway switch heater

The limitation in the number of seats is due to the fact that Polish railways only allow “narrow” RIC coaches with three-person compartments to operate on the Kyiv-Warsaw route.

“Ukrzaliznytsia has already restored the operation of all repairable coaches of this class in its fleet, approached European partners for the transfer of such coaches, but there are no more of them available, and it will take over two years to order and build new ones. However, this has not stopped Ukrainian railway officials, as the demand from our passengers compels us to find unconventional solutions. Almost a year ago, Ukrzaliznytsia initiated and continues to work with Polish railways on the implementation of this project,” noted Oleksandr Pertsovsky, a member of the Board of Ukrzaliznytsia.

Ukrainian and Polish railway authorities have previously conducted a series of negotiations and agreements regarding the compatibility of Ukrzaliznytsia’s standard coaches with the modernized Polish infrastructure.

DIESEL GROUP: Wheelsets turning without rolling them out

Technical approvals have also been obtained from the Polish regulator, UTK (Urząd Transportu Kolejowego). A test run of the train consisting of coaches of the standard Ukrainian gauge 1-VM was conducted.

These coaches successfully completed the entire route from Kyiv to Warsaw with a bogie exchange at the Yagodin station.

At the request of the Polish side, two days were dedicated to detailed measurements of all dimensions of each coach of this train, involving Polish technical specialists and a team of Ukrainian railway professionals.

The train set off on its journey on May 31st and arrived in the capital of Poland the following day.

Railway news you may have missed:

Express Service: MDD 4 diesel shunter