The construction of a European-gauge railway from Chernivtsi in Ukraine to Suceava in Romania is planned to start in 2025. In general, the European-gauge railway should connect cities in Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, and Poland. According to Aliona Atamaniuk, the first deputy head of the Chernivtsi Regional Military Administration, the bid submitted by the Ukrainian Railways joint-stock company (Ukrzaliznytsia) was successful and secured funding for preliminary and design work.

This was reported by the CFTS portal, citing the publication Suspilne Chernivtsi.

Thanks to Ukrzaliznytsia’s application to the European Union's Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) grant program, a European-gauge railway to Suceava will be built through the Chernivtsi region. Half of the money for the first phase of the project will come from the budget, and the other half will come from grants.

"Of course, this will take some time, but the most important thing is that it has already been recorded everywhere, the documentation work is starting and, accordingly, we will gradually get to the point when the European-gauge railway passes through the Chernivtsi region," Atamaniuk said.

The project envisages that the European-gauge railway will connect the cities of Kraków, Lviv, Chernivtsi, Suceava, and Ungheni.

"Accordingly, this will provide Moldova and Ukraine with opportunities to export their products on a larger scale. Currently, there are only four regions in Ukraine that have European-gauge railroads. We are essentially one of them. Next, we need to talk about extending the European-gauge railroad from Vadul Siret to Chernivtsi and then to Lviv," she said.

According to her, the project is likely to be divided into phases.

“Because it will take more than one year to build a railway from Chernivtsi to Lviv. However, the section from Vadul to Chernivtsi can be built much faster,” she said.

According to her, it is not yet known which parts of the region the railway tracks will pass through. The designers of the project will decide.

"There may be sections where the route will bypass certain areas. In Chernivtsi itself, it would be impractical for the European-gauge railway to run through the city center," Atamaniuk said.

The total cost of the project and the procedure for its implementation will be known after the final expert assessment.