MONTREAL — The Canadian government and Canada’s railway industry will work to support reconstruction and operation of Ukraine’s rail and other transportation infrastructure, the government and the Railway Association of Canada announced Wednesday.
The announcement includes formation of a working group involving the governments of both countries, the RAC — on behalf of railways including Canadian National and Canadian Pacific — and Ukraine’s national railway, Ukrzaliznytsia. It followed meetings involving Canadian Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, officials of the RAC, Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada, and Ukraine’s Minister of Infrastructure. Those meetings took part during the International Civil Aviation Organization Assembly being held in Montreal.
“Canada’s railways deliver reliably over more than 42,000 kilometres of track — as they have through two world wars and other major world events since Confederation,” RAC CEO Marc Brazeau said in a press release. “Overcoming logistical and other challenges, Canadian railroaders never shy away from stepping up in times of need and working together for the good of all. Our member railways have deep talent pools and a breadth of expertise to bring to bear in helping Ukrainians get food, energy, and other goods to market at this incredibly difficult time.”
Objectives of the working group are supporting the rebuild of Ukraine’s rail infrastructure; maximizing its capacity; analyzing challenges to the moment of Ukraine commodities for export by rail; and identifying practical solutions. Canadian railways will provide input, guidance, and recommendations based on their experience and expertise in transporting commodities in large quantities.
Ukraine, a major grain producer, has been forced to shift much of its efforts to export that and other goods from ships to rail as a result of Russian blockades and Ukrainian mining of Black Sea ports following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February [see “Europe’s railways help move Ukraine’s grain,” Trains News Wire, Sept. 2, 2022].
Too bad Canada is not able to help its own rail system.
The key is converting the Ukraine system from Russian gauge to standard gauge like the rest of Europe and eliminating transloading.
Chicken and egg, which do you do first? Rebuild the damage or rebuild the whole railway to 4′ 8 1/2″ inches?
I’m all for helping Ukraine. Maybe somewhere along the way Prime Minister Justin Castreau could give some help to Via Rail, the world’s worst intercity passenger system. Ukraine’s is much better.