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Transport in Ukraine includes ground transportation (road and rail), water (sea and river), air transportation, and pipelines. The transportation sector accounts for roughly 11% of the country's gross domestic product and 7% of total employment.
In total, Ukrainian paved roads stretch for 164,732 kilometres (102,360 mi). [1] Major routes, marked with the letter 'M' for 'International' (Ukrainian: Міжнародний), extend nationwide and connect all major cities of Ukraine, and provide cross-border routes to the country's neighbours.
International maritime travel is mainly provided through the Port of Odesa, from where ferries sail regularly to Istanbul, Varna and Haifa. The largest ferry company presently operating these routes is Ukrferry. [2]
Rail transport in Ukraine connects all major urban areas, port facilities and industrial centres with neighbouring countries. The heaviest concentration of railway track is the Donbas region of Ukraine. Although rail freight transport fell in the 1990s, Ukraine is still one of the world's highest rail users. [3]
The total amount of railroad track in Ukraine extends for 22,473 kilometres (13,964 mi), of which 9,250 kilometres (5,750 mi) was electrified in the 2000s. [1] The state has a monopoly on the provision of passenger rail transport, and all trains, other than those with cooperation of other foreign companies on international routes, are operated by its company Ukrzaliznytsia.
Kyiv Boryspil is Ukraine's largest international airport. It has three main passenger terminals and is the base for the country's flag carrier, Ukraine International Airlines. Other large airports in the country include those in Kharkiv, Lviv and Donetsk (now destroyed). In addition to its flag carrier, Ukraine has a number of airlines including Windrose Airlines, Dniproavia, Azur Air Ukraine, and AtlasGlobal Ukraine. Antonov Airlines, a subsidiary of the Antonov Aerospace Design Bureau, was the only operator of the world's largest fixed wing aircraft, the An-225.
Today the transport sector in Ukraine generally meets only the basic needs of the economy and population. The level of safety, quality and efficiency of passenger and freight transport, as well as the infrastructure's amount of energy usage, and the technological burden it places on the environment do not meet modern-day requirements.
Due to the low level of demand, the country's existing transit potential and advantageous geographical position is not fully utilised. There is thus a lag in the development of transport infrastructure, transport and logistics technologies and multimodal transport. All this has made Ukraine uncompetitive as the high costs of transport across the country make the cost of production in the country uncommonly high.
The advantageous geographical position of Ukraine allows for the location of a number of International Transport Corridors on its territory, in particular :
This section needs to be updated.(September 2013) |
The share of the transport sector in Ukraine's gross domestic product (according to Goskomstat) as of 2009 was 11.3%. The number of workers employed in the sector is almost 7% of total employment. The transportation infrastructure of Ukraine is adequately developed overall, however it is obsolete and in need of major modernization. A remarkable boost in the recent development of the country's transportation infrastructure was noticed after winning the right to host a major continental sport event the UEFA Euro 2012.
In 2009, Ukrainian infrastructure provided for the transportation of 1.5 billion tons of cargo and 7.3 billion passengers. As the global financial crisis took hold and demand for major export commodities in 2009 fell, the volume of freight traffic decreased by 17.6% when compared with figures from 2008; passenger transport fell by 12.7%.
Transported tons of freights | Freight kilometres (thousand) | Transported passengers (thousand) | Passenger kilometres (thousand) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | 938,916.1 | 19,281,619.3 | 2,603,804.6 | 29,381,541.2 |
2002 | 947,263.8 | 20,593,133.1 | 3,069,136.3 | 35,812,231.1 |
2004 | 1,027,396.3 | 28,847,143.4 | 3,720,326.4 | 47,490,401.3 |
2006 | 1,167,199.6 | 40,566,469.9 | 3,987,982.2 | 53,981,705.3 |
2008 | 1,266,598.1 | 54,877,223.3 | 4,369,125.5 | 61,302,884.5 |
The public railways in Ukraine are managed by the state railway company Ukrzaliznytsia. [5]
The length of the railway network Ukraine ranks third in Europe (21.700 kilometres of track).
In Ukraine, there are 4 metro systems: the Kyiv Metro, the Kharkiv Metro, the Dnipro Metro and the Kryvyi Rih Metro.
The development of public roads in Ukraine is currently lagging behind the pace of motorisation in the country. During 1990-2010 the length of the highways network hardly increased at all. The density of highways in Ukraine is 6.6 times lower than in France (respectively 0.28 and 1.84 kilometres of roads per square kilometre area of the country). The length of express roads in Ukraine is 0.28 thousand km (in Germany – 12.5 thousand kilometres in France – 7.1 thousand kilometres), and the level of funding for each kilometre of road in Ukraine is around 5.5 – 6 times less than in those locations.
This is due to a number of objective reasons, including that the burden of maintaining the transport network per capita is significantly higher than in European countries because of Ukraine's relatively low population density (76 people per square kilometre), low purchasing power of citizens (1/5 of the Eurozone's purchasing capacity), relatively low car ownership and the nation's large territory.
The operational condition of roads is very poor; around 51.1% of roads do not meet minimum standards, and 39.2% require major rebuilds. The average speed on roads in Ukraine 2–3 times lower than in Western countries. As of 2016, many of Ukraine's major provincial highways are in very poor condition, with an Ukravtodor official stating that 97% of roads are in need of repair. The road repair budget was set at about ₴20 billion, but corruption causes the budget to be poorly spent and overweight trucks are common place rapidly causing more road damage. [6]
Motorways in Ukraine, 193 km (120 mi) (2010):
Kyiv – Boryspil | Kharkiv – Dnipro
State Highways, 8,080 km (5,020 mi) (2009):
M01 | M02 | M03 | M04 | M05 | M06 | M07 | M08 | M09 | M10 | M11 | M12 | M13 | M14 | M15 | M16 | M17 | M18 | M19 | M20 | M21 | M22 | M23
Note:State highways are important national routes and are not necessarily high-speed roads
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This section needs to be updated.(September 2013) |
The aviation section in Ukraine is developing very quickly, having recently established a visa-free program for EU nationals and citizens of a number of other 'Western' nations, [7] the nation's aviation sector is handling a significantly increased number of travellers. Additionally, the granting of the Euro 2012 football tournament to Poland and Ukraine as joint hosts has prompted the government to invest huge amounts of money into transport infrastructure, and in particular airports. [8]
Currently there are three major new airport terminals under construction in Donetsk, Lviv and Kyiv, a new terminal has already opened in Kharkiv and Kyiv's Boryspil International Airport has recently begun operations at Terminal F, [9] the first of its two new international terminals. Ukraine has a number of airlines, the largest of which is the nation's flag carrier, UIA. Antonov Airlines, a subsidiary of the Antonov Aerospace Design Bureau is the only operator of the world's largest fixed wing aircraft, the An-225.
Donetsk Airport destroyed due to War in Donbass.
New terminal at Odesa International Airport has been opened for arrival flights on April 14, 2017. [10]
Major airports are: Kyiv Boryspil Airport, Dnipro International Airport, Kharkiv Airport, Lviv Airport, Donetsk Airport, Odesa Airport, and Simferopol Airport.
1,672 km (1,039 mi) navigable waterways on 7 rivers, most of them are on Danube, Dnieper and Pripyat rivers. All Ukraine's rivers freeze over in winter (usually December through March), limiting navigation. However, river icebreakers are available on the Dnieper, at least in vicinity of Kyiv. [11]
The most important waterway of Ukraine[ citation needed ].
Dnipro within Ukraine is a regulated system of reservoirs separated by dams with shiplocks. The river is navigable through all its Ukrainian length.
Notable riverport Chernobyl is now abandoned due to the Chernobyl disaster, but the waterway retains its importance as part of the Dnieper – Baltic Sea route.
Plans are announced to revitalize commercial freight navigation on the Southern Bug as part of the increasing grain export from Ukraine. [12]
As of July 2013, Ukraine had 18 "marine trade ports" available for foreign ships' entry. [13] Some of these "marine trade ports" are actually port conglomerates comprising several non-adjacent ports and tenant private terminals. Major river ports are also considered "marine" international ports.
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The natural gas transport-system can take in a maximum of 288 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. Its annual output capacity is 178.5 billion cubic meters, including 142.2 billion to be forwarded to European countries. [21]
This article considers transport in Armenia.
Transport in Bulgaria is dominated by road transport. As of 2024, the country had 879 kilometers of highways and another 117 km under construction. The total length of the network is almost 40,000 km, divided nearly in half between the national and the municipal road network. In addition, there are 57,000 km of streets. Buses play a significant role in long-distance public transport, coaches are operated by private companies. The capital Sofia has three major national bus terminals, the Central, the Western and the Southern Terminals.
This article provides an overview of the transport infrastructure of Latvia.
In 1995, the main means of transportation in Moldova were railways and a highway system. The major railway junctions are Chișinău, Bender, Ungheni, Ocnița, Bălți, and Basarabeasca. Primary external rail links connect the republic's network with Odesa on the Black Sea and with the Romanian cities of Iași and Galați; they also lead northward into Ukraine. Highways link Moldova's main cities and provide the chief means of transportation within the country, but roads are in poor repair. The country's major airport is in Chișinău.
Transport in Poland involves air, water, road and rail transportation. The country has a large network of municipal public transport, such as buses, trams and the metro. As a country located at the 'cross-roads' of Europe, Poland is a nation with a large and increasingly modern network of transport infrastructure.
Transportation infrastructure in Romania is the property of the state, and is administered by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, Constructions and Tourism, except when operated as a concession, in which case the concessions are made by the Ministry of Administration and Interior.
The transport network of the Russian Federation is one of the world's most extensive transport networks. The national web of roads, railways and airways stretches almost 7,700 km (4,800 mi) from Kaliningrad in the west to the Kamchatka Peninsula in the east, and major cities such as Moscow and Saint Petersburg are served by extensive rapid transit systems.
Transport in Slovakia is possible by rail, road, air, or rivers. Slovakia is a developed Central European country with a well-developed rail network (3,662 km) and a highway system (854 km). The main international airport is the M. R. Štefánik Airport in the capital, Bratislava. The most important waterway is the river Danube, which is used by passenger, cargo, and freight ships. The two most important harbours in Slovakia are Komarno harbour and Bratislava harbour.
The transport in Azerbaijan involves air traffic, waterways and railroads. All transportation services in Azerbaijan except for oil and gas pipelines are regulated by the Ministry of Transportation of Azerbaijan Republic.
Iran has a long paved road system linking most of its towns and all of its cities. In 2011 the country had 173,000 kilometres (107,000 mi) of roads, of which 73% were paved. In 2008 there were nearly 100 passenger cars for every 1,000 inhabitants.
Mykolaiv is a city and a hromada (municipality) in southern Ukraine. Mykolaiv is the administrative center of Mykolaiv Raion (district) and Mykolaiv Oblast (province). The city of Mykolaiv, which provides Ukraine with access to the Black Sea, is the location of the most downriver bridge crossing of the Southern Bug river. This city is one of the main shipbuilding centers of the Black Sea. Aside from three shipyards within the city, there are a number of research centers specializing in shipbuilding such as the State Research and Design Shipbuilding Center, Zoria-Mashproekt and others. As of 2022, the city has a population of 470,011. Mykolaiv holds the honorary title Hero City of Ukraine.
The first railway in the Kingdom of Romania opened in 1869 and linked Bucharest and Giurgiu. The first railway on electric current in the current Romanian territory opened in 1854, between Oravița and Baziaș in Banat, right next to the border with Serbia; however, that region was under the administration of the Austrian Empire at the time, and became part of Romania after World War I.
Ukrainian Railways or Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) (Ukrainian: Укрзалізниця) 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 transportation in the country. Ukrainian Railways is the world's sixth largest rail passenger transporter and world's seventh largest freight transporter. As of 2020, the total length of the main broad-gauge (1,520 mm) railroad network was 19,787 kilometres (12,295 mi), making it the 13th largest in the world. Ukraine also has many stretches of standard-gauge railway (1,435 mm), and is currently working to expand these in order to improve its connections to the European Union.
Rail transport in Ukraine is a major transport mode in Ukraine. Most railway infrastructure in Ukraine is owned by the government of Ukraine through Ukrzaliznytsia, a joint-stock company which has a de facto country-wide monopoly on passenger and freight transport by rail.
Afghanistan has three railway lines in the north of the country. The first is between Mazar-i-Sharif and the border town of Hairatan in Balkh province, which then connects with Uzbek Railways of Uzbekistan. The second links Torghundi in Herat province with Turkmen Railways of Turkmenistan. The third is between Turkmenistan and Aqina in Faryab province of Afghanistan, which extends south to the city of Andkhoy. The country currently lacks a passenger rail service, but a new rail link from Herat to Khaf in Iran for both cargo and passengers was recently completed. Passenger service is also proposed in Hairatan – Mazar-i-Sharif section and Mazar-i-Sharif – Aqina section.
Roads in Ukraine's transportation network are divided into two main categories: general-use roads, which consist of streets and roads in cities, villages, and other populated areas; and specialized roads, which include official, private, and special-use roads. Most members of the public travel on general-use roads, the most prominent of which are part of the international E-road network. However, high-speed highways, locally known as avtomahistrali (motorways) or shvydkisni dorohy (expressways), are rare and only exist on certain segments of major routes. In early 2010, in preparation for Ukraine co-hosting the UEFA Euro 2012 football tournament, significant infrastructure improvement projects were announced by the newly-established Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, then headed by Borys Kolesnikov. These efforts fell short of expectations in some areas, and the road network at-large is still in need of significant renovation.
The Port of Odesa or Odesa Sea Port, located near Odesa, is the largest Ukrainian seaport and one of the largest ports in the Black Sea basin, with a total annual traffic capacity of 40 million tonnes, the only port of Ukraine capable of accepting Panamax class vessels. The port has an immediate access to railways allowing quick transfer of cargo from sea routes to ground transportation. Along with its younger satellite ports of Chornomorsk (1958) and Pivdennyi (1973), the Port of Odesa is a major freight and passenger transportation hub of Ukraine.
Calea Ferată din Moldova is the sole railway operator in the Republic of Moldova, responsible for passenger and cargo transportation, as well as railway infrastructure maintenance within the country. The total length of the network managed by CFM is 1,232 kilometres (766 mi), of which 1,218 kilometres (757 mi) are 1,520 mm, and 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) are 1,435 mm. The entire network is single track and is not electrified. It borders the Romanian railway network, with a 1,520 mm /1,435 mm break-of-gauge in the west, and the Ukrainian one in the east.
The HRCS2 Hyundai Rotem is a dual-voltage electric multiple unit built by Hyundai Rotem for the Ukrainian Railways.
Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) (Ukrainian: Адміністрація морських портів України (АМПУ)) is a state company created in 2013 after the adoption of the law "On Sea Ports of Ukraine" and united all ports of Ukraine under one administration. Total throughput of 13 seaports in 2019 exceeded 160 million tons.
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