Ukraine plans to extend European-standard rail gauges to Lviv in western Ukraine by the end of 2027, allowing direct train travel to western Europe.
Different rail gauges, a legacy of the Soviet era, have long prevented trains from crossing between Ukraine and Europe without swapping the wheels.
But Oleksandr Pertsovsky, chairman of the board of state railway Ukrzaliznytsia, said work is underway to extend the European-standard rail connection to Lviv, the largest city in western Ukraine.
“We set ourselves a very ambitious goal – to connect Lviv with the Eurorail by the end of 2027,” Pertsovsky said at an event on Oct. 30, according to Interfax Ukraine.
Pertsovsky said in addition to Lviv, the city of Chernivtsi by the Romanian border, as well as the city of Kovel close to Poland, were also considered as hubs with European-standard gauge connections.
At present, rail connections between Ukraine and other EU countries require trains to switch gauges at the border, a process that can lead to lengthy stops, since Ukraine uses a broad-gauge system (1,520 mm) rather than the standard gauge (1,435 mm) used by the rest of Europe.
The only exceptions are the Intercity+ train to Przemyśl, a Polish border city, which runs on a broad-gauge track (PKP rail line 92), and the new 22-km (13.7-mile) European-standard line connecting Uzhhorod, on the Slovak border, to Chop, near the Hungarian border, funded by the EU.
In early 2024, Spanish authorities have reportedly reached a provisional agreement with the EU to finance new infrastructure set to extend the current TEN-T rail network to Lviv.