Intermodal railway connections between Ukraine and Austria might soon become a reality. Ukrainian Railways (UZ) and Rail Cargo Group (RCG), the freight subsidiary of the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), pledged to develop a route running from Kyiv to Vienna. The route would go through Lviv and Budapest.

The two parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 14 September, as UZ highlighted. However, this cooperation was announced already in May at the transport logistic exhibition in Munich. According to the new MoU, UZ will be responsible for the management of rolling stock, terminals, and customs procedures in Ukraine. RCG will take care of the same procedures along the section of the route in the European Union.

Back in May, the parties were hoping to launch test runs and regular services this August. However, there have been some delays, with UZ now stating that preliminary test transportation of semi-trailers between Kyiv and Budapest should start before the end of September. Moreover, the Ukrainian company added that regular services are expected to be launched by the end of the year. The new route would run along three (or four) TEN-T corridors. The Kyiv-Lviv section is part of the North Sea-Baltic Corridor, the Lviv-Budapest line is part of the Baltic-Adriatic Corridor, and the Budapest-Vienna connection is part of the Orient-East Med as well as Rhine-Danube Corridors.

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