Part 2 From the History of Railways

1 It`s interesting to know several facts from the history of Ukrainian railroads. The first railroad line in Ukraine was built in 1861, connected Lviv, Cracow and Vienna. Later the line was extended southward to Chernivtsi in Bukovyna (1886).

At the beginning of the 20th century Lviv was the largest rail centre in Western Ukraine. The other main junctions with five lines each were Stanislav, Stryi and Ternopil. The first railroad in Eastern Ukraine was built in 1865. It ran from Balta to Odesa. In 1868 it was extended to Yelysavethgrad and from there through Kremenchuk to Kiev (1872). By then Kiev had been connected by rail to Moscow (1869).

The same year the railway line that connected Kharkiv with Moscow was built. In 1870s, the Moscow-Kursk-Kharkiv line was extended south to Lozova and then branched out to Rostov-na-Donu, Sevastopil. From 1880 to 1890 numerous trunk lines were constructed to connect the Donetsk coal region with Kryvyi Rig Iron-ore Basin and the newly established heavy industry complexes at Katerinoslav and Oleksandrivsk (now Zaporishia).

2 The railways in central and eastern Ukraine carried mostly wheat to the sea-ports for export and raw materials to the rapidly growing industry in the Dnieper region and in Russia. By 1913 Ukraine had approx 15, 600 km of rails some of them double-track trunk lines. Lines were built without any general plans so that some important cities such as Radomyshl and Pereiaslav were left without rail service. The war of 1917-1921 destroyed much of the railroad network in Ukraine.

3 In the interwar period some lines were built that had been planned before the war. A number of short lines in the heavily industrialized Dnieper-Donetsk region were opened to relieve congestion on the trunk lines in the Kherson region, in Zaporizhia region and in Donetsk region. Many of the new lines had a special purpose and were restricted to a certain indust­ry or enterprise. Altogether about 4,000 km of track were added to Ukraine’s network.

4 During the Second World War over 9,200 km of track were destroyed. Ukraine's railways returned to their prewar capacity only in 1948. At present the two major junctions in Ukraine are Kharkiv and Lviv, with eight rail­road lines each. Kiev, Bakhmach, Kupiansk, Yasynovata, Kovel, Shepetivka, Stryi and Ternopil are five-line junctions. Kharkiv has three terminals; Lviv, Odesa, Poltava and Dnepropetrovsk have two terminals each.

5 Since 1953 the railway network had been expanded and improved. Many trunk lines have been double-tracked and approx 7,800 km have been electrified. With the exception of some local lines all lines use either electric or diesel power. The heavily used Kiev-Konotop trunk line is being re­built into a three-track main line. Modern tracks consisting of heavier rails (R-100, instead of R-50 or R-75), a solid ballast-type bed, concrete ties, and deep side ditches for drainage have a higher load capacity. Containers and longer cars with eight instead of four axles have been introduced. More powerful locomotives make it possible to pull heavier loads at higher speeds. Most locomotives used in Ukraine are built at its own locomotive works. Major repair shops are located in Lugansk, Popasna, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Lviv and Stryi.