Two pairs of trains between the city of Chernivtsi and the Romanian city of Suceava should be launched on January 1, 2019. An agreement to this effect was reached at a meeting of the Ukrainian-Romanian working group on transport and infrastructure, which was held in Chernivtsi from May 17 to 18, the CFTS reports, citing information from the Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure.
The issues of development of rail and road links, organization of passenger and freight transportation, and the granting of permits for two-way transport and transit were discussed.
On rail passenger transportation, the two sides agreed to introduce two pairs of trains (4 trains) on January 1, 2019, which will link Suceava (Romania) and Chernivtsi (Ukraine), with transfers at the Vadul Siret train station, the Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure said.
The idea of launching the Chernivtsi-Suceava train, with transfers in Vadul Siret, was announced in June 2017 by the then head of the Ukrainian Railways public joint-stock company (Ukrzaliznytsia), Wojciech Balczun.
It was also announced at the time that train tickets would cost UAH 120-150. The first trip was expected to be performed on July 8, 2017, but it was postponed.
If Romania resolved all the necessary issues on its part, then Ukraine was "mired in paperwork," the Chernivtsi regional council’s head Ivan Muntian explained.
The Vadul Siret train station in the Chernivtsi region is located near the Ukrainian border. Transfers are necessary there because of the change of the track width from the standard 1520 millimeters to 1435 millimeters.
