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A planned standard-gauge railway connecting Ukraine and Poland has received European Union funding. The project, due to be completed by the end of 2027, aims to improve cross-border transport and ease one of the main bottlenecks between the two neighbouring countries.
Whereas most railways in Europe used the standard gauge of 1,435 mm, former Soviet states such as Ukraine use a broad gauge of 1,520 mm. That necessitates changing trains at the border, a time-consuming process.
Now, a new standard-gauge line is planned to run for 80 kilometres from Sknyliv near the Ukrainian city of Lviv to Mostyska II on the Polish border.
The project is set to cost around €190 million in total, and the European Commission has now agreed to provide €73.5 million in non-repayable funding under the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) programme.
A ceremony to present a grant agreement between @Ukrzaliznytsia and @cinea_eu took place in Uzhhorod. It accords the provision of €73.5 M in grant funding for the implementation of a European track from Lviv to the Polish border.@OleksiiKuleba @Transport_EU @MagdaKopczynska pic.twitter.com/vfhTllC0KI
— Ministry for Development (@MinForUADev) November 6, 2025
“This project is not only about infrastructure – it is about Europe’s unity and security,” Oleksiy Kuleba, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, said at a ceremony to sign the grant agreement with the EU last week.
“Every euro invested in Ukraine’s transport system is an investment in stability, recovery and the protection of the EU’s external borders,” he added.
In September, Ukraine opened its first European standard-gauge railway line, also financed via CEF, linking the western town of Chop, near the borders with Slovakia and Hungary, to Uzhhorod, 22 kilometres to the north.
The new line allows passenger trains from Uzhhorod to travel directly to Budapest, Košice, Vienna and Bratislava.
According to Polish rail industry news service Rynek Kolejowy, the Polish infrastructure ministry expects the new line to have a positive impact on passenger services and trade between Ukraine and the EU, including Poland.
“[The project] also increases Poland’s importance as a transit country,” Anna Szumańska, the ministry’s spokesperson, told the website, adding that, after the end of the war Ukraine, Polish carriers are also expected to be able to run trains on the link.
The project comes two years after a passenger rail connection between Poland and Ukraine was revived. The service, between Lviv and the Polish capital of Warsaw, resumed in late 2023 after an 18-year break, operated jointly by Ukraine’s state railway Ukrzaliznytsia and Polish private operator SKPL.
The journey takes around 10 hours, including an hour-long train change at Rava-Ruska, due to the different track gauges in the two countries.
A train service between the Polish capital of Warsaw and Ukrainian city of Lviv will begin running again next week for the first time in 18 years https://t.co/oJbuUytdgw
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 6, 2023
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Андрей Харьковой/Wikimedia Commons (under CC BY-SA 4.0)
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
