State Railways Administration Ukrzaliznytsia hopes to launch high-speed trains on Ukraine's main routes by 2012, Ukrzaliznytsia Director General Mykhailo Kostiuk has said in an interview with the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia newspaper.
“The crisis has taught us to use the existing infrastructure, it urged us to seek resources to acquire high-speed rolling stock by 2012. The speed of such trains is up to 160 kilometers per hour. It will take four hours to get to Lviv from Kyiv, three hours and 50 minutes [to get to Kyiv] from Kharkiv, and five-and-a-half to six hours from Donetsk. This is a realistic prospect, and we’re working on this,” he said.
He said that at present Ukrzaliznytsia needs to modernize at least 700 kilometers of track and repair at least 2,000 kilometers of track every year.
