Boris Ganaylyuk, a Ukrainian rail expert from Lviv, has set his sights on the promotion of the so-called “Green Corridor”. It is supposed to be a new alternative to the Northern and Middle Corridors that is faster and offers more versatility. One of the things that is needed to make that happen is the exploitation of Lviv’s rail infrastructure, and to expand what is already there.
This article is the third out of a series of three about rail infrastructure in western Ukraine. The first article covered the envisioned new ‘Green Corridor’ for China – Europe traffic. The second article covered rail infrastructure between Ukraine and the EU.
– A proposed alternative to the Northern and Middle Corridor for China – Europe traffic
– The corridor would run via Russia into Ukraine, with Lviv as the envisioned central international hub for sorting and gauge switches
– The corridor is far from being a reality, but Lemberger Linien CEO and project promoter Boris Ganaylyuk has detailed plans for its development
China – Europe rail freight traffic by and large goes through either Russia (the Northern Corridor) or Central Asia, the Caucasus and Türkiye or the Black Sea (the Middle Corridor). Boris Ganaylyuk, CEO of Lemberger Linien, sees opportunities for the Green Corridor: Lviv is more centrally located, has more versatile options for further transport into Europe and better existing infrastructure.
“Most of China – Europe traffic now enters Europe through Brest, in Belarus. However, the city does not really have a good sorting hub for containers. Lviv, on the other hand, does”, explains Ganaylyuk.
More competitive Ukraine – Europe traffic
Lviv’s infrastructure could be used much better, the Lemberger Linien CEO says. But, it has to be supplemented with other infrastructure investments. “At the moment, we only have a gauge transfer hub at the border with Poland. It is not really financially viable to put together broad gauge trains in Lviv, only to have to redo them at the border to continue on the European standard gauge.”
For that reason, a standard gauge line to Lviv needs to be built, as well as a gauge transfer facility, Ganaylyuk says. Not all gauge transfers can be carried out at existing terminals in Mostyska, Chop or newly built terminals. That is why Lemberger Linien is proposing a new hub in Lviv, which would make Ukraine – Europe rail freight traffic more competitive and boost capacity.
Returning Lviv’s historical role as a rail freight hub
In order to make the most of the Ukrainian, European and Chinese demand for rail freight, and to return Lviv’s historical position as a rail freight hub, Ganaylyuk is proposing to boost the throughput of the Lviv node up to 12,000 to 15,000 wagons per day. That includes 6,000 to 8,000 in a sorting and gauge change hub in the city. This is supposed to facilitate a peak daily cross-border load of 500 thousand tonnes, or 15 million per month.
Lviv hosts two stations that should get those upgrades: its namesake, Lviv station, and Klepariv station. “The node stations have an atypical location that allows for circular transfer of wagons. On the city map, these stations resemble a heart, which gave the project the name ‘the Railway Heart of Eurasia’”.
Quicker deliveries
“The proposal to reconstruct the Lviv station marshalling yard involves expanding it to 33 tracks for eastbound train formation, and Klepariv station to 46 tracks for westbound train formation”, the Ukrainian rail expert explains.
“It is assumed that infrastructure for receiving 1435-millimetre trains and transshipment infrastructure will be created next to the Lviv station yard. In this case, trains formed at Klepariv station in the westbound direction will be delivered to the transshipment hub and then directly to the Lviv marshalling yard.”
These measures are supposed to boost the throughput capacity of the Lviv node, but also reduce the cost of changing directions and gauge changes. “The main thing is to reduce the total time of carriages within the station and, consequently, the time of cargo delivery”, says Ganaylyuk.
City of Lviv has acquired the land for it
“The possibility of building a sorting and reloading node in a green field was considered if the projected flow is larger and the reconstruction project cannot provide the appropriate capacity. The creation of such a complex requires the construction of a new junction of connection lines and, accordingly, a significant price.”
The city of Lviv seems to be considering this option. “The Lviv authorities have reserved one of the land plots, the dimensions of which allow the project to be implemented, which confirms support for the project and the possibility of its development if existing opportunities are exhausted”, explains Ganaylyuk.
The financial picture
What might all this cost? The Lemberger Linien CEO warns against drawing too definitive conclusions. The economic situation is not predictable, especially with the ongoing war. Moreover, more research and design work needs to be done.
However, in the case of the Klepariv and Lviv station overhauls, an earlier study conducted by Lemberger Linien mentioned 73 and 153 million euros respectively. Add to that some upgrades at another station, Sklyniv, which is estimated at 68 million. The infrastructure to connect all the stations – 44 million, and shunting locomotives – 60 million euros. In total, the counter gets to approximately 400 million euros.
Quick return on investment
That is a rather sizable investment, especially in light of the other investments needed for standard gauge infrastructure in the entire region, which is supposed to link up to Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.
Nevertheless, even with minimum fees, the investments are supposed to pay themselves back rather quickly with “an extremely high return on investment”: Lemberger Linien estimates that the whole project can generate almost 33 million euros annually. In other words, the project should pay itself back in approximately 10 years time.