Ukraine’s Minister of Infrastructure of Volodymyr Omelian and Poland’s Minister of Infrastructure and Development Andrzej Adamczyk signed a declaration of intent to work together to broaden the geography of railway passenger traffic between Ukraine and Poland in Kyiv on December 5.
As the CFTS portal reported, the document provides for restoration of railway traffic on the Malhowice-Nyzhankovychi-Przemysl route and launch of a regular passenger train service between Lviv and Lublin.
As reported, the two ministers previously discussed passenger traffic on both routes. After a meeting between the Ukrainian and Polish transport ministers in September this year, Omelian said that that work to restore service on the Malhowice-Nyzhankovychi-Przemysl railway route was already underway. Omelian also recalled plans to establish a passenger rail link between Lviv and Lublin at the time.
As the CFTS portal reported, Poland is interested in reopening the railway route connecting settlements in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship, which partially passes through the Lviv region (from Przemysl through Ukraine’s Nyzhankovychi and Khyriv to Krostsenko and other settlements).
Previously, a Warsaw-Zagórz train operated on this route, passing through Ukrainian territory. It passed through Ukraine without stopping. The European-gauge (1435 millimeter) tracks were used on the Ukrainian segment. The Nyzhankovychi-Khyriv-Krostsenko section was repaired after 1994, as a result of which the European-gauge tracks between Nyzhankovychi and Khyriv were replaced with 1520-millimeter-gauge tracks. The combined tracks between Khyriv and Krostsenko remains.
The Polish Sejm’s Marshals Marek Kuchciński outlined the priorities for development of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship’s infrastructure on August 22, including modernization of the Jaslo-Krosno and Syanok-Zagorz-Krostsenko-Khyriv-Przemysl railways lines.
Ukraine will be interested in possible launch of trains from Nyzhankovychi (Ukraine) to Przemysl after restoration of the Przemysl-Malhowice-Nyzhankovychi railway line. Polish officials have confirmed their desire to modernize the Przemysl-Nyzhankovychi line.
As for the Lviv-Lublin railway line, the decision to start developing the new route was based on the positive experience of the Kyiv-Przemysl route. The technical details of the launch of the route are expected to be determined by autumn this year.
