Dates of operation 1991–present Website Official website Owner Ukraine (100%) Founded 14 December 1991 | Predecessor Southwestern Railways Headquarters Kiev, Ukraine Founder Government of Ukraine Locale Ukraine | |
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Track gauge 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 ⁄32 in) CEO Wojciech Balczun (6 Jun 2016–) Subsidiaries Southwestern Railways, Southern Railways Profiles | ||
Ukrainian railways
Ukrainian Railways (Ukrainian: Укрзалізниця, Ukrzaliznytsia) is the state railway network operator in Ukraine, a monopoly that controls vast majority of the railroad transportation in the country with a combined total tracks length of over 23,000 km, making it the 14th largest in the world. Ukrainian Railways is also the world's 6th largest rail passenger transporter and world's 7th largest freight transporter.
Contents
- Ukrainian railways
- Main information
- Pre history
- Independent Ukraine
- Administrative structure
- Financial situation
- Infrastructure
- Types of stations
- Upgrading and expansions
- Brief statistics
- Recent developments
- Classification of passenger trains railway lines
- Gallery
- Factories
- Producing companies
- Others
- Rail links with adjacent countries
- Education
- References
Main information
State Administration of Railroad Transportation is subordinated to the Ministry of Infrastructure, administering the railways through the six territorial railway companies, which immediately control and provide of all aspects of the railroad transportation and maintenance in a unified way under the common Ukrzaliznytsia brand. The general director of the administration is appointed by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
The administration employs more than 403,000 people through all regions of the country.
Pre-history
Railways in Ukraine were built under the imperial rule of the Austria-Hungary (in the western territories), and later in the Russian Empire-controlled territories, having seen major development and reformation since. For more information, see:
Independent Ukraine
On 24 September 1991, following the resolution of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) on separation from the Soviet Union, all railroad administration was temporarily passed to the South-Western Railways. According to the resolution, all assets located within the borders of the former Ukrainian SSR became property of Ukraine. To improve efficiency in such administration it was to create a special centralized administration. On 14 December 1991 the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine issued a declaration No. 356 "In creation of the State Administration of Railroad Transportation in Ukraine" which proclaimed Ukrzaliznytsia a government body in administration railroad transportation uniting the six state railroad companies.
As of late 2015 the Ukrainian government is transforming the railways into a public joint-stock company named Ukrainian Railways (Ukrainian: Ukrainska Zaliznytsia).
Administrative structure
The railways are split into six territorial railway companies: Donets'k, Lviv, Odesa, Southern, South-Western and Near-Dnipro. The subdivision is purely administrative as it doesn't correspond to the particular railway lines or branches. The names of regional railways are purely historic, inherited from the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires. For instance, the 'South-Western Railway' actually operates the 'north-central' part of Ukraine's rail network. The 'Southern Railway' actually operates in the east of the country, whilst the Near-Dnipro Railways are the southernmost.
The six separate territorial railways each have their own directorates, located in the following cities:
- Donetsk Railway – Donetsk
- Lviv Railway – Lviv
- Odesa Railways – Odesa
- Southern Railway – Kharkiv
- Southwestern Railway – Kyiv
- Near-Dnipro Railway – Dnipro
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.
Financial situation
In 2008 the Ukrainian State Railways transported around 498.5 million tonnes of domestic freight and 69.8 million tonnes of international freight in transit through Ukrainian territory; freight transport figures were particularly high on transport Routes 3, 5 and 9, which saw a combined total of 105 million tonnes carried in 2008. Further to this, Ukrzaliznytsia served around 518.8 million passengers over the course of the year. The state railways ran with an annual consolidated budget of a little more than 40 billion ₴ (US$5 billion) in 2008.
By the end of 2005 the railways had produced a profit equivalent to 1.76 billion ₴ (US$220 million) from all their operations including freight, passenger service, associated services and the operation of subsidiaries. The total capital invested in fixed assets of the State Railways is thought to be equivalent to around 22 billion ₴ (US$4.4 billion), however, depreciation of these fixed assets is estimated to be around 57%, or in terms of rolling stock, closer to 66.7%.
Infrastructure
The full extent of the railway system in Ukraine administrated by Ukrzaliznytsia is currently put at around 22,300 km, of which 9,752 km (44.3%) 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 Dnipro) and Darnytsia (in the capital Kyiv) – both freight.
Types of stations
Railway stations also have five classes depending on their general performance. Some stations may be named as railway stop, platform number, passing loop (Ukrainian: роз'їзд) or simply kilometer post.
Upgrading and expansions
The Ukrainian railway network is permanently undergoing large scale reconstruction, mainly in order to reduce operating costs, inherited from the Soviet economy, and to implement higher speeds of passenger services. Particularly, around 4000 track switches have already been upgraded.
Brief statistics
Recent developments
In November 2010, UZ agreed to buy 10 high-speed HRCS2 multiple unit interurban trainsets from Hyundai Rotem, with the prospect of a much larger order or joint venture for local production. The first two trains would be delivered in February 2012, two other in April and other two in May, when they will start operating. They will be rated as Inter City+ and will be connecting Kyiv with Kharkiv, Donetsk and Lviv, and at a later stage with Dnipro and Odesa.
In July 2011, UZ announced plans to buy 433 electric freight locomotives; 292 2EL4s from Transmashholding, and 141 locomotives (including class VL11M/6) from Elmavalmshenebeli.
Classification of passenger trains (railway lines)
Railway lines are classified into commuter, regional, intercity and eurocity. They also distinct one from another if they operate during day or night time. Intercity lines are coded with single, double and triple digits. while commuter lines are coded with quadruple digits.
On 27 April 2011 in accordance with order № 504/2011 rail industry specialists developed a new classification system of passenger trains for Ukrainian Railways.
The development of a new classification system for passenger trains in Ukraine was made necessary by the need to inform customers (passengers) about the level of service quality they could expect to find in various passenger trains. The new system is based on the class of train and carriages.
Given the quality of the service provided UZ asked the following classes of passenger trains:
The advantages of the new classification system include: full compliance with the classification of the European Union, compliance with Ukrainian and English names and abbreviations, clarity for customers, linguistic and semantic consistency and clarity for customers in Ukraine and compatibility with existing and future tariff policy. The system is also not far displaced from the previous classification system used for passenger trains on the territory of Ukraine and therefore should not cause major problems when introduced.
Gallery
Factories
Producing companies
Others
Rail links with adjacent countries
Education
The National Railway University in Dnipro currently has 10 faculties as well as a technical school, a business school and branches in Odesa and Lviv, 450 professors and 39 separate fields of study related to Railway transport.