Ukraine and Spain have signed agreements on a joint project to develop technology for automatically adjusting the width of wheel sets to accommodate different track gauges, as well as a grant agreement to fund the project in the amount of €5.48 million. This was reported by Ukrzaliznytsia.
Ukrainian Railways (UZ), the Spanish engineering company TRIA, and the railway infrastructure operator Adif plan to develop an innovative bogie for freight cars capable of automatically changing the track gauge from 1,520 mm to 1,435 mm. The new technology is intended to facilitate the transfer of railcars from one gauge to another when crossing the border between Ukraine and the EU, without stopping, without transshipment, and without replacing the bogies.
Spain has been successfully using similar technology for many years (between 1,435 and 1,668 mm track gauges); as part of the project, it will be adapted and tested on Ukrainian-European routes.
The disbursement of grant funds will be administered by the Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO, a Spanish government financial institution). Funding is provided on a non-repayable basis through the FIEM state fund, which supports international projects involving Spanish companies.
Overall, this project opens up new opportunities for Spanish businesses to participate in the modernization of Ukraine’s infrastructure in collaboration with Ukrainian companies.