EU railway companies will help reconstructing Ukrainian railways
32 European rail companies and organisations signed a declaration to support the reconstruction of railways in Ukraine. The declaration was realised on 9 July at the Rail CEO Summit 2022 in Vienna, hosted by Austrian Federal Railways ÖBB. CER Chair and CEO of ÖBB Andreas Matthä, who hosted the Summit, included the Declaration in a letter sent to the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the leaders of the EU Council.
Rail CEOs are highlighting the role of Ukrainian rail infrastructure as key when it comes to the necessity of corridors for displaced people and aid supplies. The signatories plan to contribute to the reconstruction with urgently needed materials as well as with knowledge. European railway companies have also made an appeal to the EU to create a “Rebuild Ukraine” fund. The capital made available with the fund will be implemented specifically for railways and rail infrastructure in Ukraine.
Now it’s up to the EU
“I hope that our proposals will now find top-level EU support. Our Ukrainian Railway colleagues work every day under unimaginable conditions and risk their lives, they count upon our fullest support and solidarity”, said Matthä.
Alberto Mazzola, CER Executive Director, shares Matthä’s hopes. “With our Ukraine Declaration and call for EU leaders’ endorsement, we wish to support the best conditions to preserve and rebuild the country’s infrastructure, so that Ukraine and its people can continue to rely on resilient rail services for their future”.
Last month, the Commission also adopted revised TEN-T maps. For example, Russia and Belarus were removed from these maps. The Commission points out that “cooperation with these countries is neither appropriate nor in the interest of the Union”. Moreover, Last week, the European Commission decided to revise the TEN-T Regulation because of the impact of the war in Ukraine.
Also read:
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- Not just grain: Ukrainian iron ore and steel suppliers bend under export pressure
- The Grain Bridge project: DB’s plan to unlock Ukrainian grain
- GrainLane: a new, digital way for Ukrainian grain trade
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Current, healthy, decisive and most appreciated solidarity proved – for sake of Industry and sustainability – as well should be awarded taxpayers, track owners, now plagued – and plaguing clients, by a product no longer timely.
(Other devices, by sea, etc. upgrade, for lower costs, etc. So shall railways!)
Infrastructure is Bottleneck… (Rail, basics, now is the most frequent cause of derailments… and current inferior track standard causes many of balance, etc.) This is not sustainable!