News / Ukrainian rail prospects hobbled by mismatched gauges

Ukraine has become dependent on rail freight following its invasion by Russia in February 2022, with calls for greater external investment in the sector.

With even the purported ocean grain corridor – described by one source as “a joke” – being blocked by the Russian military, Ukraine has rapidly migrated to sending increased volumes of goods, including its sizeable grain exports, on train-mounted containers.

One source told The Loadstar that Ukraine’s rail dependence was unsurprising, noting that the country has “one of the most well-developed rail systems in Europe”.

Nonetheless, the source warned its reorientation from Russia had exposed a major weakness – and cultural hangover – in Ukraine’s desires to up trade volumes with its western neighbours: mismatched gauges.

“Ukraine’s desire to send more to Europe is hobbled because the gauges between the two rail systems do not match,” the source continued.

“And, if you were to press me, I would say that this is an issue that is impossible to change. What happens is that the containers are moved over at the border, but this obviously adds delays to the service.”

Such has been the problem caused by a war-induced upswing in western-bound rail volumes that last year saw huge congestion, with roughly 1,000 wagons waiting the border.

To address the problem, the obvious answer would be to lay new tracks matching the gauge used in Europe, but given the costs involved there is little hope of this happening.

“There are more expensive wagons that adapt gauges at the border, but the amount generated by container and grain flows is not sufficient to justify this level of spend,” the source added.

“If the country were to take this route, it would need to have someone not only producing, but maintaining, these wagons in Ukraine. The problem we have is that there is demand to grow this sector more, but we must first contend with this massive infrastructure problem.”