{"id":466218,"date":"2026-06-29T21:50:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T11:50:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=72210"},"modified":"2026-06-29T21:50:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T11:50:54","slug":"ukraine-shares-rail-lessons-repair-and-restore-capacity-is-essential","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=466218","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine shares rail lessons: \u2018Repair and restore capacity is essential\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

What can European railways learn from the Ukrainian experience? The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) and Ukrainian Railways (UZ) have published a report that seeks to answer that question.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>Despite Russia\u2019s invasion, UZ has managed to keep rail operations going. Trains carry 63% of the entire Ukrainian freight volume, passenger trains run on time, and Ukraine is even expanding its rail network with new standard-gauge lines. UZ has some hard-learned lessons to share, and has done so in a joint report<\/a> with CER.<\/p>\n

Ukraine\u2019s lessons come fourfold: the railways are a cornerstone of national resilience, protection needs to be multi-layered and involve complementary measures, repair and restore capacity is a key tool for resilience, and UZ\u2019s vertical integration has proven to be a strategic advantage.<\/p>\n

Thinking in corridors<\/h2>\n

In terms of protection, there are several measures that the rail industry can take. UZ, for example, does not aim to protect all parts of its infrastructure. Rather, it focuses on maintaining infrastructure functionality, so that the company can continue to fulfill its core mission.<\/p>\n

To that end, UZ thinks in terms of logistics corridors. The operator maps its infrastructure from a corridor perspective, thinking with regard to supply chains, which it seeks to maintain. Logistics hubs and nodes in these corridors get priority for protective measures, as well as redundancies and alternative routes. Energy resilience is also considered to be a priority as a factor ensuring operational continuity.<\/p>\n

In order to respond effectively to strikes, Ukrainian Railways regularly identifies rolling stock chokepoints and upgrades its wagons and locomotives to resolve them. The operator also pre-positions its rolling stock to restore operations quickly after an attack.<\/p>\n

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A rolling stock repair facility in Ukraine. Image: \u00a9 Ukrainian Railways<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

No silver bullet<\/h2>\n

The key message on protecting infrastructure and rolling stock, stresses UZ, is that there is no \u2018silver bullet\u2019. No single measure can protect the railway system. UZ has implemented a layered and complementary set of protective measures instead.<\/p>\n

For that reason, UZ works with the assumption that some parts of the railway system will inevitably sustain damage. Resilience is therefore key. Rapid recovery and restoration capacity has proven to be decisive, Ukrainian Railways adds.<\/p>\n

The rail operator has its own dedicated recovery teams to facilitate speedy repairs. These emergency brigades operate autonomously with their own firefighting trains, railway cranes and other equipment. Here, too, pre-positioning is essential. Other conditions and measures for resilient railways include effective communication systems, energy continuity and routing flexibility.<\/p>\n

Vertical integration helps<\/h2>\n

UZ regularly assesses and revises operational procedures to improve its approach. It gets feedback from the field, where many departments are part of broader \u201ccivilian-military coordination mechanisms with clear command structures\u201d. The operator highlights its vertically integrated structure, which allows the departments to make quick decisions and react quickly through a clear, unified chain of command. \u201cThis vertical integration turns out to be a resilience advantage enabling the railway company to quickly restore operations after an attack\u201d, the CER\/UZ report says.<\/p>\n