The Ukrainian Ministry of Development of Communities, Territories, and Infrastructure has confirmed recent reports that it is in talks with Spanish representatives about the implementation of an automatic system for adjusting the gauge of railway rolling stock to different tracks while in motion.
Ministry officials met with a Spanish delegation led by Spanish Minister of Economy, Trade and Entrepreneurship Carlos Cuerpo Caballero to discuss the initiative, the CFTS portal reports.
"Currently, the modernization of our railway system is of utmost importance to us, including the upgrading of corridors to TEN-T standards and the renewal of rolling stock. Notably, both Ukraine and Spain use railway tracks with gauges that differ from the European standard. Therefore, we are interested in your assistance in developing a track gauge changing system for moving trains. We would like to secure your technical and financial support for the development of our railway infrastructure," Acting Minister of Infrastructure Vasyl Shkurakov said during the meeting.
The Ukrainian ministry noted that the construction of a European-gauge railway line from Chop to Lviv as part of the updated Mediterranean Corridor - an axis of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) - began this year. The implementation of this project is one of the first steps in the implementation of the “Strategy for the EU Integration of the Ukrainian and Moldovan Railway Systems” and the development of TEN-T within Ukraine.
Cuerpo said that the Spanish side is ready to financially support the development of Ukrainian railways and has the relevant companies, experience, and ready-made solutions.
As reported earlier, the Ukrainian Railways joint-stock company (Ukrzaliznytsia) and the Spanish national railway company RENFE are preparing initial concepts for a pilot project to introduce trains adapted to different track gauges (1520 mm and 1435 mm).
