State Railways Administration Ukrzaliznytsia says it is intending by 2016 to electrify 1,467 kilometers of track.
According to the press service of Ukrzaliznytsia, with reference to the head of the main department for electrification and energy supply, Vitaliy Maksymchuk, the estimated cost of the work is about Hr 16 billion.
According to him, the decision on the electrification of certain sections is made under the program for the separation of passenger and cargo flows to improve the speed of passenger transportation, as well as to ensure the efficient movement of trains on the most freight-loaded sections. For instance, the electrification of the Volnovakha-Zaporizhia section is part of the electrification of the Kryvbas-Donbass direction, on which significant amounts of strategic raw materials are transported.
"The direction towards Odesa ports is also promising for us," he said.
In addition, he said that the railroads in the coming years would focus on the creation of a second electrified line to Crimea.
"This is the Dolynska-Mykolaiv-Kherson-Dzhankoi section. This is the creation of a second electrified passenger transportation line to Crimea, which will allow the number of trains and their speed to be increased. The project is to start in 2014, and it is possible that credit funds will be attracted for the electrification work. We’re preparing project documents and feasibility studies," said Maksymchuk.
