Lines of wagons at border crossings decreased by 10% m/m in February 2023

As of mid-February 2023, the total queue of freight railcars in the direction of the western crossings decreased by 10% or by 1.71 thousand units compared to the end of January 2023 – to 14.94 thousand units. Valeriy Tkachev, deputy director of Ukrzaliznytsia’s (UZ) commercial work department, stated it, reports Rail.Insider.

At the same time, in February 2023, the actual average daily delivery of goods through railway junctions increased. Compared to January 2023, this indicator increased by 160 wagons, reaching 1.96 thousand wagons per day (+9%).

Accordingly, the average waiting time for a wagon in the queue was reduced to 7.6 days. However, the situation at border crossings is uneven. For example, the waiting time for delivery at the Batiove – Epereshki crossing, which is currently the leader in the transportation of grain overland, can reach 15 days.

As GMK Center reported earlier, the government of Ukraine intends to stimulate the process of creating joint railway checkpoints of Ukraine on the border with the neighboring countries of the European Union in order to speed up the logistics of domestic exporters.

During 2023-2024, UZ plans launch 6 new border crossings in the west of Ukraine. The railway operator expects to build three additional points on the border with Poland, two on the border with Romania, and one on the border with Moldova.

In 2022, UZ reconstructed and completely renovated 470 km of railway tracks. In addition, last year railwaymen electrified 82 km of tracks, which is a record for the last 10 years.