The Ukrainian Railways public joint-stock company (Ukrzaliznytsia) is no longer considering acquiring used German suburban trains for operation in Ukraine. This was announced by Ukrzaliznytsia’s acting head Yevhen Kravtsov.
"We have analyzed the issue of buying used German suburban trains, specifically diesel trains, in detail. It was a question of economic expediency: according to our estimates, this (adapting the trains to operate on the 1520-gauge track) is at least not cheaper than overhauling our rolling stock," Kravtsov said.
In addition, according to him, operation of used German diesel trains in Ukraine is unsafe.
"The second issue is security. This is connected with the fact that during operation of these trains on our traditional railway platforms, there is a great distance between them and the platforms. This can have unpleasant consequences during mass use these trains," said Kravtsov.
As reported, Minister of Infrastructure Volodymyr Omelian said in November 2017 that used German trains could appear in Ukraine. Omelian said at the time that the trains were in good technical condition, but he added that it was still unclear whether Germany would donate them to Ukraine.
Citing preliminary calculations by Ukrzaliznytsia’s technical experts, the Parliamentary Transport Committee’s head Yaroslav Dubnevych said in September 2017 that the deep modernization of German rolling stock could cost UAH 250-280 million per eight-car train compared to UAH 70-80 million for modernization of Ukrzaliznytsia’s electric trains manufactured by Ukrainian enterprises.
