Ukraine should develop European-gauge rail infrastructure as quickly as possible to ensure physical connectivity between the Ukrainian rail network and the European Union, Director General for Mobility and Transport at the European Commission Magda Kopczyńska said during a panel discussion at the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC 2026) in Gdańsk (Poland).
"It will take time, but I firmly believe that establishing this physical connection and infrastructure will have more than just symbolic significance," Kopczyńska said, according to an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent.
She said construction of the European-gauge railway in Ukraine is only just beginning; specifically, the first 23 kilometers of European-gauge track from Chop to Uzhhorod has been completed, and construction of the first line to Lviv is currently underway. The next goal should be Odesa.
As Kopczyńska noted, these projects are part of the expansion of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), which is intended to eventually cover all of Ukraine so that, once construction is complete, trains can run on European-gauge tracks without changing bogies, and in the future, such routes will connect all of Ukraine all the way to Mariupol.
According to her, the development of the European gauge will also be of practical importance for Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction, as the railway infrastructure will be essential for transporting cargo throughout the country.
Deputy Minister of Community and Territorial Development Oleksiy Balesta, who also participated in the discussion, emphasized that the development of the European gauge is not only a transportation project but also a security project, since Russia uses a broad gauge.
According to him, the war has taught us that infrastructure development planning must take into account security and military mobility.
Earlier, during the Ukraine-EU business summit in Brussels, Kopczyńska said the European Union is interested in expanding the European rail network to Lviv, Kyiv, and Odesa while ensuring transport safety. At that time, she noted that over the past ten years, there has been a growing recognition of the need to extend transport corridors beyond the EU’s borders, which has become the basis for expanding the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) beyond 2022 to include Ukraine, specifically Odesa.
During URC 2026, the Deputy Prime Minister for Recovery, Minister of Community and Territorial Development Oleksiy Kuleba announced that nearly $18 million in international support had been secured for Ukrzaliznytsia projects, which will strengthen the railway’s resilience under wartime conditions and continue its integration into the European transport system.
