Ukrainian farmers ask Poland to build a broad-gauge railway track to the port of Gdansk

[ad_1]

The request for a new railway link, with a gauge of 1520 mm, was reported in a message on the website of the Ukrainian Agri Council published on October 28.

The following Ukrainian agricultural associations signed the appeal to Polish President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki:

The All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council;
Agrarian Union of Ukraine;
the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club;
the All-Ukrainian Union of Self-Governing Communities;
Union of Poultry Breeders of Ukraine;
and the Ukrainian Agrarian Union.

According to the letter, one of the largest and closest European ports to Ukraine is the port of Klaipeda in Lithuania, which has significant free transshipment capacity.

However, due to the differences in gauge between Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic States, there is a need to load the contents of trucks at border crossings between the countries or rearrange railway trucks, which prevents the use of the full export-import potential of the port of Klaipeda.

In turn, the use of road transport or containers as an alternative to rail transport is poorly suited for the transport of bulk cargo (coal, ore, grain, metal) over long distances and increases costs to an uncompetitive level. In addition, when using container terminals, the capacity of the railway line will be limited by their capacities, which will also prevent the full utilization of the potential.

Bonder said that a new railway route would bring significant positive economic and financial effects for Poland and Ukraine – not only by increasing export and import capacity, but also by uniting the economic space of Poland, the Baltic States and Ukraine.

Such a project can be implemented by reconstructing the existing railway network and building a common track, or building a separate railway branch, the Ukrainian farmers said.

In June 2022, Polish Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said that the construction of such a broad-gauge railway had already been given preliminary approval by the Polish and Ukrainian authorities.
Source: The New Voice of Ukraine

[ad_2]

Source link