The State Railway Administration (Ukrzaliznytsia) has said that about UAH 16 million is needed to upgrade the rolling stock in the suburban transport sector.
"Approximately UAH 15-16 billion is needed to upgrade the fleet of multiple units until the year 2020. Their maintenance, i.e. repair, technical maintenance, etc. requires an additional UAH 2 billion,” Ukrzaliznytsia’s press service quoted the deputy head of the administration’s suburban passenger transportation, Oleksandr Hudkov, as saying.
According to Hudkov, the degree of wear of trains is 94.3% for diesel trains and 82.3% for electric trains.
Hudkov said that private operators have not been created because businesses currently have no interest in suburban transportation. "We have not had a single request or proposal from commercial entities. They are not showing interest in leasing trains or train paths. Commercialization of the suburban sector is completely absent today,” he said.
Hudkov added that suburban trains carry about 1 million people per day, but 70% of these people are entitled to subsidized fares. Meanwhile, Ukrzaliznytsia does not receive more than 50% of the compensation for this from the agencies that place orders for transportation of such passengers. Losses from suburban passenger transportation total about UAH 3.5 billion per year.
