[Goose]

This is old news from 2023, but it’s new to me, and I don’t recall seeing it posted here. Apparently, USAID is working on a fix to make Ukrainian rail compatible with Polish rail so as to facilitate transportation of goods. I don’t know how long this will take, but it’s encouraging that people are working on the issue. 

https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/p...il-network

We did talk about this a bit back in July of 2023. https://thecardboard.org/board/showthrea...1&page=185 Post 3687. Polish rail contains both broad (1520) and standard (1435) gauge. Going forward, Poland will be 1435 mm, but is not universally there yet and won't be for a while. Lviv already has a 1520 mm track that runs into Poland and interchanges there. The dual gauge solution will allow the gauge change to take place inside Ukraine rather than inside Poland. The rest of Ukraine's rail system will still be 1520 mm and a gauge change will still be required. Unless the transloading from trucks to rail can be done in Liviv instead of further east, this change will therefore not of itself help much. It is also still true (and forever will be true) that shipping large bulk cargo (like grain) is cheaper by ship than by land. Going from Ukraine by rail to Baltic (or even further west) ports is an expense that renders Ukrainian grain noncompetitive in the wider world. Too long an overland route to be viable (and BNSF doesn't operate in Europe :-) Going by rail to places in Europe OTOH can be economically feasible. Of course, if Ukraine does that they will have EU farmers blocking the tracks (as they did the roads) over "unfair competition".

[Goose]

This is old news from 2023, but it’s new to me, and I don’t recall seeing it posted here. Apparently, USAID is working on a fix to make Ukrainian rail compatible with Polish rail so as to facilitate transportation of goods. I don’t know how long this will take, but it’s encouraging that people are working on the issue. 

https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/p...il-network

We did talk about this a bit back in July of 2023. https://thecardboard.org/board/showthrea...1&page=185 Post 3687. Polish rail contains both broad (1520) and standard (1435) gauge. Going forward, Poland will be 1435 mm, but is not universally there yet and won't be for a while. Lviv already has a 1520 mm track that runs into Poland and interchanges there. The dual gauge solution will allow the gauge change to take place inside Ukraine rather than inside Poland. The rest of Ukraine's rail system will still be 1520 mm and a gauge change will still be required. Unless the transloading from trucks to rail can be done in Liviv instead of further east, this change will therefore not of itself help much. It is also still true (and forever will be true) that shipping large bulk cargo (like grain) is cheaper by ship than by land. Going from Ukraine by rail to Baltic (or even further west) ports is an expense that renders Ukrainian grain noncompetitive in the wider world. Too long an overland route to be viable (and BNSF doesn't operate in Europe :-) Going by rail to places in Europe OTOH can be economically feasible. Of course, if Ukraine does that they will have EU farmers blocking the tracks (as they did the roads) over "unfair competition".