Ukrainian Railways (UZ) has built 200 platform wagons at its own production facilities. The wagons are supposed to be used for large containers for intermodal EU-Ukraine traffic.
The rail operator highlights that the company itself produced the wagons. Nevertheless, it was international support that made the production of the wagons possible. “Ukrainian Railways is grateful to international partners for their trust and assistance. In addition to replenishing the fleet, our car repair plant received additional work, income and ensured the preservation of jobs”, the operator commented. “Thanks to the new platforms, the company will be able to additionally transport at least 300,000 tonnes of cargo per year.”
Funding for the project came from the World Bank, as well as the Trust Fund for Support, Recovery, Reconstruction and Reform of Ukraine.
Ban on Russian rolling stock
Since the start of the war, Ukraine has been looking to expand domestic rolling stock production. It traditionally made use of lots of Russian rolling stock for its broad-gauge rail network, but banned those imports for the next 50 years. The switch to domestically produced rolling stock has not been a bad deal financially for UZ: a year ago, it stated that it had saved 2,4 million euros with in-house production during 2022 and 2023.
