Korean railroad companies such as Korea National Railway, KORAIL and Hyundai Rotem will participate in a Ukrainian railway reconstruction project in earnest.
The Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, Korea National Railway and KORAIL announced on Nov. 22 that they formed the Railway One Team Korea and visited the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv for three days from Nov. 20.
On that day, KORAIL and Korea National Railway signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Ukrainian Railways to cooperate in railway reconstruction.
The purpose of the MOU is to promote seven railway reconstruction projects, including a high-speed railway line from Kyiv to Poland, which is one of the six major projects of Korea-Ukraine reconstruction cooperation.
The seven projects include the construction of a high-speed railway along the Ukrainian-Polish border, the expansion of existing tracks (Odessa, Izmail, and Reni), the construction of a new railway traffic control center, joint training for high-speed railway operation and vehicle maintenance personnel, the maintenance of rolling stock, and the construction of a railway vehicle repair base.
Korea National Railway, which is in charge of high-speed rail construction, will conduct a pre-feasibility study for the construction of high-speed railroads along the border, a project to expand railways, and the construction of a rail traffic control center.
KORAIL, which is in charge of high-speed rail operation and vehicle maintenance, will play a consulting and advisory role in the overall railroad reconstruction project.
Hyundai Rotem, which specializes in manufacturing rail cars, will be in charge of manufacturing, maintaining and repairing 120 new rail cars.
Railway One Team Korea also toured war-torn railway sites, including transportation facilities and control centers in the Kiev area, to see what needs to be done for reconstruction.