The Southern Railways (SR) (, ) is a composing part of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Ukrzaliznytsia The Public JSC Ukrainian Railways or PAT 'Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ)' () is a state-owned joint-stock company administering railway infrastructure and rail transport in Ukraine; a monopoly that controls the vast majority of the railroad transporta ...

railroad company and is headquartered in

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

. Southern Railways's route map covers all railroads of the

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

Poltava Poltava (, ; , ) is a city located on the Vorskla, Vorskla River in Central Ukraine, Central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Poltava Oblast as well as Poltava Raion within the oblast. It also hosts the administration of Po ...

and some railroads in other

oblast An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...

s (

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

s) as well. As of 2008, the Southern Railways operate of track. The Southern Railways company contributes a large role as a transit railway in the routes of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

and

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

History

This regional railways was formed in 1907 soon after a merge of the

Kursk Kursk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur (Kursk Oblast), Kur, Tuskar, and Seym (river), Seym rivers. It has a population of Kursk ...

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

railways and the Kharkiv-Mykolaiv railways. The company traces its history to the Kursk-Kharkiv-

Azov Azov (, ), previously known as Azak ( Turki/ Kypchak: ), is a town in Rostov Oblast, Russia, situated on the Don River just from the Sea of Azov, which derives its name from the town. The population is History Early settlements in the vici ...

railways that was established in 1869. In March 2024, railway stations of Southern Railways were being renamed to comply with

derussification Derussification (or derussianization) is a process or public policy in different states of the former Russian Empire and the Soviet Union or certain parts of them, aimed at restoring national identity of indigenous peoples: their language, culture ...

and

decommunization Decommunization in former communist states is the process of purging former communist high officials and eliminating communist symbols. It is sometimes referred to as political cleansing. Although the term has been occasionally used during t ...

laws Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a Socia ...

. In February 2025, the Commission of the

Ukrainian Institute of National Memory The Ukrainian Institute of National Memory (UINM, ), also translated as the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, is the central executive body operating under the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Established on 31 May 2006 as a special org ...

Noted that "Southwestern" and "Southern Railways" names are propaganda for Russian imperial policy and violate the law.

Structure

;Subdivisions * Sumy * Kharkiv * Poltava * Kupiansk ;Others * Central House of Science and Technology (Kharkiv subdivision) * Mykola Hohol Sanatorium

Directors

Southern Railways

* 1907–1907 Johann-Theodore "Fyodor" Schmidt * 1907–1908 Viktor Rozanov * 1909–1910 Ippolit Ivanovskiy * 1910–1913 Vladislav Stulginskiy * 1913–1916 Boris Voskresenskiy * 1916–1917 Boris Yazykov * ''1920–1920 Aleksei Ivanov (commissar)'' * 1920–1921 A.Hlavatskyi * 1921–1922 V.Nauman * 1923–1926 A.Ivanov * 1920s I.Myronov * 1927–1928 Viktor Paniashvili * 1928–1930 P.Bandura * 1931–1933 Yakiv Livshyts * 1933–1934 Mykola Levchenko * 1934–1934 Oleksiy Zorin

Southern Railway

* 1934–1937 Petro Shushkov * 1937–1938 Ilarion Maliy * 1938–1944 Semen Kutafin * 1944–1945 Kostiantyn Danylenko * 1945–1954 Petro Dmytryuk * 1954–1959 Kostiantyn Kozhukhar * 1959–1972 Hryhoriy Holovchenko * 1972–1976 Mykola Konaryev * 1976–1983 Oleksiy Shutov * 1983–1995 Oleksandr Puchko * 1995–1997 Oleh Kryuchkov * 1997–2000 Vasyl Nesvit * 2000–2005

Viktor Ostapchuk Viktor Mykolaiovych Ostapchuk (, 16 May 1955) is a Ukrainian railway administrator and later Ukrainian parliamentary (People's Deputy of Ukraine of the 7th and 8th convocations), He is a Doctor of Technical Science and is honored as a Hero of Ukr ...

* 2005–2005 Hryhoriy Boiko * 2005–2012

* 2012–2014 Oleksandr Filatov * 2014– Mykola Umanets

References

External links

Ukrzalznytsia official site
1520 mm gauge railways in Ukraine Railway companies of Ukraine Companies based in Kharkiv Rail transport in Kharkiv Derussification in Ukraine Decommunization in Ukraine {{Ukraine-company-stub