The pre-feasibility study is part of the EU initiative called “Solidarity Lanes” (Communication COM (2022) 217 ‘An action plan for EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes to facilitate Ukraine's agricultural export and bilateral trade with the EU’).

This initiative aims to coordinate EU actions to improve the capacity of the transport infrastructure used for trade with Ukraine. The study is also meant as an EU strategy to support the integration of Ukrainian and Moldovan railway transport systems with EU system.

The document outlines ten possible solutions for integrating Ukraine's and Moldova’s railway networks with the EU’s network, including a preliminary cost estimate. The preferred option is to use mainly the existing Ukrainian and Moldovan broad-gauge railway network (1,520 mm) and to additionally provide selected sections with standard-gauge tracks (1,435 mm).

The purpose of the study is to help develop a standard-gauge railway network that is integrated with the existing broad-gauge network. At present, there are differences within the railway system that necessitate costly transloading operations at borders and prevent both networks from fully cooperating.

According to the study, the new railway corridors should contribute to:

- a greater integration of Ukraine and Moldova in the European transport area by improving connectivity with the EU and increasing the capacity of the new export corridors;
- increasing the resilience of the transport system and the logistic chains by reducing their vulnerability to exceptional events (such as the current blockade of Ukrainian ports following Russia's invasion of Ukraine).

Instead of a single comprehensive solution, the study puts forward the most preferable option for each section. The experts considered points such as operational issues, costs of upgrades and traffic continuity.

They concluded that building a standard-gauge connection between Ukraine and Poland is the essential first step. This should be followed by establishing railway links between Ukraine and Hungary and Slovakia, and between Ukraine and Moldova and Romania.

The EU–Ukraine railway connection should be established by standard-gauge corridors:

- from Lviv via Kraków and Katowice to the Polish sea port complexes Szczecin-Świnoujście, and to the Polish-German border (Zgorzelec), as well as to Brno, Prague, Vienna and Bratislava;
- from Kyiv to Warsaw to Polish sea ports (Gdańsk, Gdynia, Szczecin-Świnoujście) and other international container hubs (Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Rotterdam), and to the Baltic states (Klaipėda). 

The construction of standard-gauge railway connections between the EU and Ukraine and Moldova will proceed in stages. Each stage is assigned a priority. Polish projects involve the following priorities:

- Priority I: Medyka/Mościska (PL/UA border) to Lviv;
- Priority II: (Warsaw–Lublin) – Dorohusk (PL/UA border in Jagodzin) to Kyiv and Lviv–Kyiv;
- Priority III: Warsaw–Lviv corridor (through PL/UA border crossing in Rava-Ruska).

The standard-gauge network in Ukraine will connect Kyiv, Lviv, Chernivtsi, Kharkiv and Dnipro with the European Union. This priority relates to both freight and passenger traffic.

There is also a recommendation to electrify the Ukrainian railway network with an AC system (25kV, 50Hz AC).

Thanks to the efforts of the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy, the feasibility study also provides for the possibility of deploying existing broad-gauge lines in Poland, including the infrastructure that is critical to trade with Ukraine – the PKP Broad Gauge Metallurgical Rail Line (PKP LHS).

This line connects the Sławków freight terminal in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie (located on the TEN-T network) with the railway border crossing in Hrubieszów (Izov). It is also the westernmost 1,520 mm gauge track in Europe.

Further feasibility studies will be prepared to assess whether the lines providing access to PKP LHS should be modernised and have a greater capacity. This means that projects in Poland will have to align with those in Ukraine – among other projects, in June 2022, Ukraine completed the electrification of a railway section from Izov to Kovel.

Poland suggested that the European Commission continue conducting technical and economic analyses, particularly with a view to:

- identifying potential locations for terminals in Poland that could handle freight traffic with Ukraine;
- identifying funding sources for such terminals and estimating the costs of purchasing rolling-stock;
- examining the viability of developing high-speed rail in Poland, including a high-speed line along the Lublin–Lviv section.

The standard-gauge railway corridor feasibility study issued by the European Commission is very important. It provides the basis for selecting the railway infrastructure projects to receive EU funding in the years to come from the “Connecting Europe Facility” (CEF), cohesion policy funds and National Recovery Plans.

This approach of the Commission is already having an impact as Polish-Ukrainian infrastructural projects (railway and road) have been selected to receive funding under the Connecting Europe Facility II (CEF 2021–2027). More information about these projects can be found on our websites.

The European Commission is also considering further, more in-depth analyses to define the scope of projects supporting the development of railway freight transport between the EU and Ukraine and Moldova.

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