The Ukrainian Railways joint-stock company (JSC Ukrzaliznytsia) and Rail Cargo Austria, part of the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), have signed a memorandum on the development of intermodal rail transport between Ukraine and Austria.
The cooperation between the two companies is expected to begin in September, and they have agreed on a preliminary test transportation of semi-trailers on the Kyiv-Budapest route, Ukrzaliznytsia said in a statement, the CFTS portal reports.
"We are currently evaluating the possibility of establishing a regular rail service of this type between Kyiv and Vienna and considering a route through Lviv and Budapest to include as many major cities as possible in the project," said Ukrzaliznytsia board member Viacheslav Yeriomin.
The two companies are also discussing the possibility of operating Ukrzaliznytsia’s fleet of grain carriers in Hungary and Slovakia and the specifics of customs processing of import-export operations involving intermodal transport.
As previously reported, within the framework of the project for development of intermodal transport, Ukrzaliznytsia will be responsible for traction rolling stock, intermodal wagons with a 1520 mm track gauge, terminal services, and customs formalities in Ukraine while the Rail Cargo Group, which includes Rail Cargo Austria, will be responsible for these issues in the European Union.
