Alexander Kava

THE government of Ukraine has announced plans to electrify the 105km Kovel - Izov line at 25kV ac, and is set to enter negotiations with Poland over extending this to Hrubieszow, which is the gateway to PKP-LHS, the 1520mm-gauge line to Katowice.

UKRANIAN Railways (UZ) launched a new 160km/h daily service on December 12 from Kiev to Krivoy Rog, a city with a population of 700,000 in the Dnepropetrovsk region.

BELARUS Railways (BC) opened a rail link between Minsk Passazhirskiy in the city centre and Minsk National Airport on November 7.

TESTING has begun on a new metre-gauge tram line in Vinnitsa, a city of 372,000 inhabitants in western Ukraine.

UKRAINIAN Railways (UZ) introduced the first of two prototype EKr1 'Tarpan' long-distance EMUs on the Kiev Darnytsia – Lviv route on June 24.

TVERSKOY Wagon Plant, a subsidiary of Transmashholding (TMH), Russia, presented a mock-up of its next generation EMU at the 9th 1520 railway forum organised by Russian Railways (RZD) in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

BELARUS Railways (BC) will introduce five-car Stadler Flirt EMUs on Minsk - Baranovichi, Minsk - Orsha, and Baranovichi - Brest services on May 1, replacing four-car Flirts which will be transferred to the recently-electfied Minsk - Osipovichi - Bobruysk line.

THE FIRST of three class DP3 three-car dmus being supplied by Pesa, Poland, to Belarus Railways (BC) arrived in Belarus on February 11.

BELARUS Railways (BC) has awarded China National Electric Import and Export Corporation (CUEC) a contract to electrify the 80km line from Maladzyechna, 72km northwest of Minsk, to Gudohay and the Lithuanian border.

UKRAINIAN Railways (UZ) received the first three type 2ES10 twin-section electric locomotives on December 16 from Ural Locomotives, a joint venture of Sinara, Russia, and Siemens.