Ukrainian Railways, or PAT 'Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ)' (Ukrainian: ПАТ "Укрзалізни́ця (УЗ)"), is a state-owned joint-stock company administering railway infrastructure and rail transport in Ukraine; a monopoly that controls the vast majority of the railroad transportation in the country. Ukrainian Railways is the world's sixth largest rail passenger transporter and world's seventh largest freight transporter. As of 2020, the total length of the main broad-gauge (1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in)) railroad network was 19,787 kilometres (12,295 mi), making it the 13th largest in the world. Ukraine also has many stretches of standard-gauge railway (1,435 mm), and is currently working to expand these in order to improve its connections to the European Union.
In 2015, Ukrainian Railways was transformed through a merger of a state agency and a state-owned enterprise into a public joint stock company owned by the state. Ukraine's State Administration of Railroad Transportation is subordinated to the Ministry of Infrastructure, administering the railways through the six territorial railway companies that immediately control and provide of all aspects of the railroad transportation and maintenance under the common Ukrzaliznytsia brand. The general director of the administration is appointed by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The company employs more than 191,700 people throughout the country.
During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian Railways continued operating to evacuate and rescue millions of people from cities out of the country. The rail links between Ukraine and Russia have been blown up by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to prevent their use by Russians, but the railways have continued operating within Ukraine and between Ukraine and Poland, Hungary, Republic of Moldova, and Slovakia. One long-abandoned cross-border rail link with Poland was quickly reconstructed, and others which had been used only for freight have been quickly opened for passenger use. The rail service has evacuated over two million people from Ukraine on special evacuation trains. After some of the Black Sea ports became unavailable for grain export, rail became an export route to the rest of Europe. Several rail sections in the North and South became unusable.
Contents
Company structure
Financial outlook
As of 2026, Ukrainian Railways (UZ) faces a critical financial crisis, induced by significant asset losses and necessitated military use amidst the ongoing conflict. In the first quarter of 2026, the company reported a loss of 7.9 billion hryvnias. Since January 2026, the company holds a Restricted Default (RD) credit rating from Fitch Ratings, and a Selective Default (SD) from S&P Global Ratings due to the suspension of coupon payments on its debt obligations. UZ is currently in the process of restructuring negotiations to manage its significant debt. By the end of 2025, freight traffic had fallen by year-on-year 7.8 percent to 161.3 million tonnes, whilst revenue dropped by 19 percent. By the end of the first quarter of 2026, freight volumes had dropped further year-on-year to 34.8 million tonnes.
The railway serves a vital lifeline for the country, providing key services for passenger, freight and military use. The company is one of Ukraine's largest employers, with over 169,000 personnel as of 2026. Nonetheless, a twenty-seven percent reduction in staff (62,000 people) has been observed since 2022. In October 2022, it was reported that 263 railroad workers had been killed during the course of the war. At the beginning of 2026, it was reported that 1,030 employees of UZ had been killed, with another 2,923 wounded as a result of strikes.
UZ has faced significant asset degradation as a result of the conflict. Assets such as rolling stock, railway stations and railway lines have faced increasing attacks, with incidents in 2025 exceeding the combined total of the previous two years. In late June 2026, CEO Oleksandr Pertsovskyi remarked that a "simply insane" surge in the number of strikes had occurred, with over 100 locomotives falling under attack since the start of the year. In early July 2026, it was further reported that over 200 locomotives had been destroyed or damaged since the start of the year.
Further economic factors affecting the company include rising inflation in the country, as well as protectionist measures from the European Union, such as the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.
Against a difficult financial situation, UZ plans to consolidate its rolling stock by removing older equipment through a scrap metal scheme, as well as increase revenue from the relatively profitable freight sector. UZ plans to increase tariffs on freight traffic by forty-five percent by January 2027, with a thirty percent rise to occur from August 2026. The increase in tariffs has received significant backlash from affected parties, stating that the move would result in the further reduction and shutdown of industrial facilities, amidst a period of significant inflation for the Ukrainian hryvnia, with industrial inflation as 40.2 percent as of April 2026. A letter from Ukrmetallurgprom states that increased tariffs would result in a decline in national GDP of nearly 100 billion hryvnia, with prominent facilities such as ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih having already partially shutdown due to a disruption in reliable industrial rail service.
Administrative structure
The railways are split into six territorial railway companies: Donetsk, Lviv, Odesa, Southern, South-Western and Cisdnieper. The subdivision is purely administrative as it doesn't correspond to the particular railway lines or branches. The names of regional railways are purely historic, inherited from the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires (for instance the 'South-Western Railway' actually operates the north-central part of Ukraine's rail network, while the 'Southern Railway' actually operates in the east of the country).
The six separate territorial railways each have their own directorates, located in the following cities:
With all operational lines constructed prior to Ukrainian Independence, the names of branches reflect the geography of the Russian Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As a result, Southern Railways and Southwestern Railways are located in their respective directions in relation to Russia, but are located in the northeast and north of Ukraine. In 2024, it was reported that railway stations were being renamed to comply with Ukrainian derussificaion and decommunisation laws, with the removal of names such as "Paris Commune". In February 2025, the Commission of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory claimed that "Southwestern" and "Southern Railways" names were propaganda for Russian imperial policy and violate the law.
The law seeks to harmonize Ukrainian rail-related legislation with European Union law. It sets out the basic requirements, responsibilities and rights of the infrastructure operator, the carrier and the owners of access tracks, rules for infrastructure management, basic requirements for railway rolling stock, and basic activities of railway rolling stock operators. The bill also provides for the creation of a system of public administration in the field of railway safety in accordance with the requirements of European Union legislation, the implementation of which is provided by the Association Agreement, which will increase transport safety in conditions of competition in the railway market. According to the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, the law, supported by European experts, serves as a starting point for real reforms in the industry.
The company is to be separated into verticals in accordance with modern practices. This involves the creation of separate freight, passenger, production and infrastructure operators within Ukrainian Railways by the end of 2021. According to the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, the project will ensure the transparency of financial flows within the company, and improve the quality of management of each activity. This will allow Ukrainian Railways to prepare for the emergence of private competitors in the railway market.
Subsidiaries and partners
Ukrainian Railways owns or cooperates with several rail and train companies.
Rolling stock
Ukrzaliznytsia has several repair factories capable of producing locomotives and railcars. In addition there is a separate Kryukiv Railcar Engineering Factory and Dnieper Railcar Engineering that also produce railroad rolling stock for Ukrzaliznytsia and other companies for public transportation.
In November 2010, UZ agreed to buy 10 high-speed HRCS2 multiple unit interurban trainsets from Hyundai Rotem, with the prospect of a much larger order or joint venture for local production. The first two trains would be delivered in February 2012, two more in April and another two in May, when they will start operating. They will be rated as Inter City+ and will be connecting Kyiv with Kharkiv, Donetsk and Lviv, and at a later stage with Dnipro and Odesa.
In July 2011 UZ announced plans to buy 433 electric freight locomotives; 292 2EL4s from Transmashholding, and 141 locomotives (including class VL11M/6) from Elmavalmshenebeli (Tbilisi). Due to the 2014 Russian invasion of Ukraine Transmashholding was put on a sanctions list.
In December 2017, UZ and GE Transportation agreed a to strategic partnership for the implementation of a 7-year rolling stock renewal program including the delivery of 30 locomotives to Ukrzaliznytsia in September 2018 with 40% manufactured in Ukraine.
Rolling stock renewal
The draft state budget for 2021 includes the purchasing of 100 new passenger cars from the Kryukiv Railway Car Building Works. In 2021 Ukrzaliznytsia will also launch its first disabled-friendly trains with dedicated wheelchair space.
In 2018 Ukrainian Railways purchased 30 General Electric TE33AC Trident freight diesel locomotives. The 30 locomotives were planned to be the first stage of wider cooperation, including a 15-year partnership, and the replacement and modernization of additional Ukrainian rolling stock. Later in 2020, Ukrainian Railways CEO Volodymyr Zhmak stated that he does not see the need for further GE diesel locomotives, as the company will focus on electric traction due to its higher efficiency.
Following the appointment of Volodymyr Zhmak as CEO, ₴400 million was reallocated within the company for urgent locomotive repairs until the end of 2020. As a part of this measure, the Lviv Locomotive Repair Plant has already received an order for the repair of 6 electric locomotives until the end of 2020.
In 2021, ₴4.7 billion is planned to be spent on repairing the existing locomotive fleet.
As of 2020, Alstom is interested in the renewal of the Ukrainian Railways locomotive fleet through partial localization of production. Volodymyr Zhmak stated that Ukrainian Railways is initially interested in the purchase of 50 two-system electric freight locomotives. The purchase of Alstom locomotives would be financed by the French government.
Statistics
Key figures as of 2020:
Main track (1,520 mm) running length: 19,787 km
Electrified track: 9,319 km
Number of railway stations: 1,402
Number of freight (goods) wagons: 85,200
Number of passenger cars: 3,883 (in active operation - 2,681)
Number of locomotives: 1,944
Number of electric locomotives: 1,627
Number of diesel locomotives: 301
Average number of employees: 266,300 people
Passengers carried (2019): 149.6 million
Cargo transportation (2019): 312.4 million tonnes
Classification of passenger trains (railway lines)
On 27 April 2011 in accordance with order No. 504/2011 rail industry specialists developed a new classification system of passenger trains for Ukrainian Railways.
The development of a new classification system for passenger trains in Ukraine was made necessary by the need to inform customers (passengers) about the level of service quality they could expect to find in various passenger trains. The new system is based on the class of train and carriages.
Given the quality of the service provided UZ asked the following classes of passenger trains:
Daytime passenger lines:
Euro City (EC) – Express (min. 90 km/h) daytime services on international routes which should offer a very high level of service and comfort. First and standard classes.
Inter City+ (IC+) – Express (min. 90 km/h) daytime services on domestic routes which should offer a very high level of service and comfort. First and standard classes. These services are currently operated by Hyundai Rotem HRCS2 multiple unit trains on routes between Kyiv and Kharkiv, Lviv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Pokrovsk, Kryvyi Rih, Kostiantynivka, Odesa, Ternopil, Kropyvnytskyi. Besides, there is one international express Kyiv - Przemyśl (Poland).
Inter City (IC) – (max. 70 km/h – 90 km/h) daytime services on domestic routes which should offer a heightened level of service and comfort. First, standard and economy classes. These services are currently operated by Škoda UZ class 675 trains on routes between Kharkiv, Dnipro and Donetsk.
Regional Express (РЕ) – (max. 70 km/h – 90 km/h) daytime services on domestic routes which should offer a standard level of service and comfort. First, standard and economy classes.
Regional train (РП) – (max. 70 km/h) daytime services on domestic routes which should offer a standard level of service and comfort. Standard and economy classes.
Science and education
The R&D branch of Ukrainian Railways is the Research and Design and Technological Institute of Railway Transport (NDKTI), which conducts scientific and technological research, development, engineering and design for infrastructure, rolling stock, security, telecommunications and so forth. It publishes a quarterly journal, Railway Transport of Ukraine, where the latest insights and results of experiments are shared within the community of engineers, scientists and railway workers of Ukraine.
The National Railway University in Dnipro currently has 10 faculties as well as a technical school, a business school and branches in Odesa and Lviv, 450 professors and 39 separate fields of study related to railway transport.
Directors
President
1991–1993 Borys Oliynyk
General director
1993–1997 Leonid Zheleznyak
1997–2000 Anatoliy Slobodyan
2000–2004 Heorhiy Kirpa
2005–2005 Volodymyr Korniyenko
2005–2005 Zenko Aftanaziv
2005–2006 Vasyl Hladkikh
2006–2007 Volodymyr Kozak
2007–2007 Petro Naumenko
2007–2008 Vasyl Melnychuk
2008–2011 Mykhailo Kostiuk
2011–2012 Volodymyr Kozak
2013–2014 Serhiy Bolobolin
2014–2014 Borys Ostapyuk
2014–2015 Maksym Blank (acting)
2015–2015 Oleksandr Zavhorodniy (acting)
Board director
2015–2016 Oleksandr Zavhorodniy (acting)
2016–2016 Yevhen Kravtsov (acting)
2016–2016 Vitaliy Zhurakovskyi (acting)
2016–2017 Wojciech Balczun
2017–2020 Yevhen Kravtsov (acting)
2020 Marček Zhelko (acting)
2020 Ivan Yuryk (acting)
2020–2021 Volodymyr Zhmak
2021–2023 Oleksandr Kamyshin
2023–November 2024 Yevhen Liashchenko
Yuzef Leonidovych Tuley (Authority: to act in the name of the legal entity, including signing of the agreements etc., (until 31 March 2025)) – representative