The

Uzhhorod Uzhhorod (, ; , ; , ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality on the Uzh, Uzh River in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistan ...

–

Košice Košice is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of approximately 230,000, Košice is the second-largest cit ...

broad-gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...

line is a single-track 1,520-mm-gauge railway mostly in eastern

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, which is used especially for transporting iron ore from

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 ...

to the

steel works A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...

near Košice. In the 1960s, after construction of the steel works in Košice, imports of iron ore to Slovakia rose steeply, and the checkpoint in

Čierna nad Tisou Čierna nad Tisou () is a town and municipality in the Trebišov District in the Košice Region of extreme south-eastern Slovakia, near the Tisa (Tisza) river. History The town and municipality is one of the newest in the Košice Region establi ...

could not handle this volume, particularly in winter, as

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

and the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

had different gauges and all freight had to be transshipped. It was thus decided to build a Russian gauge line in Czechoslovakia to ease the bottleneck. Construction started on 4 November 1965, and the line opened on 1 May 1966. It was electrified in 1978. Trains are hauled by two electric twin-unit locomotives, similar to the late versions of PKP's ET40 but with

SA3 coupler SA3 couplers (also known as СА3 or СА-3 couplers per the typical foundry stamp on top of these couplers, meaning "Советская Автосцепка, 3" in Russian or "Soviet Auto-latch 3" in English) or Willison coupler and Russia ...

s instead of buffers and chain couplings, except of westbound between

Trebišov Trebišov (; ; ) is a small industrial town in the easternmost part of Slovakia, with a population of around 25,000. The town is an administrative, economic and cultural center with machine (Vagónka) and building materials industries. History Th ...

and

Ruskov Ruskov ()Varsík, Branislav. 1984. ''Z osídlenia západného a stredného Slovenska v stredoveku.'' Bratislava: VEDA, vydavateľstvo Slovenskej akadémie vied, p. 153. is a village and municipality in Košice-okolie District in the Košice Regio ...

where the gradient is over 15 ‰ and two sets of locos are needed. The train weights are up to 4,200 tonnes. This stretch has the heaviest

catenary In physics and geometry, a catenary ( , ) is the curve that an idealized hanging chain or wire rope, cable assumes under its own weight when supported only at its ends in a uniform gravitational field. The catenary curve has a U-like shape, ...

construction in the EU (2 work cables, 1 fitting cable and 3 additional cables). This line is for freight only, but there are some diesel motor cars for railway personnel.

Technical parameters

* Length: 88.051 km (8 km in Ukraine). * Gauge: ,

Russian gauge Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

. * Electrification: 3 kV DC overhead. * Maximum speed: from Uzhhorod to Maťovce , from Maťovce to Haniska pri Košiciach . * Stations: 2 (Maťovce, Haniska pri Košiciach). * Crossing loops: 6 (

Vojany Vojany () is a village and municipality in Michalovce District in the Kosice Region of eastern Slovakia. History In historical records the village was first mentioned in 1323. Geography The village lies at an altitude of 102 metres and covers ...

, Budkovce,

, Červený Dvor, Slančík,

Hornád The Hornád ( Slovak, ) or Hernád ( Hungarian, ) is a river in eastern Slovakia and north-eastern Hungary. It is a tributary to the river Slaná (Sajo). The source of the Hornád is the eastern slopes of Kráľova hoľa hill, south of Šuňa ...

). * Depots: 1 (Haniska pri Košiciach).

Extension

There are plans to extend the line 450 km westwards to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in Austria. An agreement was signed between the railway operators of Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine and Russia in April 2010; they formed a new company, Breitspur Planungsgesellschaft, to develop the railway. In November 2010, the Slovak Prime Minister

Iveta Radičová Iveta Radičová (; ; born 7 December 1956) is a Slovak sociologist and former politician who served as prime minister of Slovakia from 2010 to 2012. The first woman to hold the position, Radičová led a Radičová's Cabinet, coalition governme ...

announced the Slovak government will not support the project, as it threatens the viability of the Košice area workplaces in the Dobrá bulk terminal, which would be unnecessary after the completion of the project. However, the project passed a feasibility study in December 2010. Construction was planned to start in 2013 and operation in 2016. The cost estimate is €6 bn. It will prove important (if really built) for the transport of containers, between Western Europe and Russia and China. In May 2021 the Austrian government stated that it has no plans to approve the construction of the extension of the line.

References

External links

Article about history of the railway
(in Czech) {{DEFAULTSORT:Uzhhorod - Kosice Broad Gauge Track Railway lines in Slovakia Railway lines in Ukraine Cross-border railway lines in Slovakia Cross-border railway lines in Ukraine Rail freight transport in Ukraine Uzhhorod Railway lines opened in 1966 1520 mm gauge railways in Slovakia 1520 mm gauge railways in Ukraine Transport in Uzhhorod Czechoslovakia–Soviet Union relations

Technical parameters

Extension

See also

References

External links