In the course of 2023, 148.4 million tons of goods were transported by railway transport in all types of connections. The company carried an average of 23% more cargo per month between March and December last year than in the same period in 2022 — after a large-scale intrusion. Rail.insider writes about this with a link to the company's information.
Currently, due to the temporary occupation of the territories, Ukrzaliznytsia cannot reach the indicators of freight transportation before a large-scale invasion. But after the opening of the Ukrainian sea corridor and ports, it was possible to increase transportation for export.
"During the past year, we managed to increase the volume of transportation, although the enemy tried in every way to block the country's transport system, in particular the sea. Thanks to the coordinated work of our special services, the military, and the Ministry of Reconstruction, we managed to launch the Ukrainian maritime corridor. During the five months of operation of the corridor, the railway transported 8.8 million tons of cargo in the direction of the Black Sea ports. This is 8.6% more, than in the same period of 2022, when the "grain corridor" was operating. In December 2023, we reached a record unloading of 3.8 million tons for Black Sea ports since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Also, the railway has increased the volume of transportation in the direction of the Danube ports by almost 33%, in particular by transit through Moldova and Romania," said the chairman of the board of JSC "Ukrzaliznytsia" Yevhen Lyashchenko.
He added that overall, comparing March-December 2022 (the period after the large-scale invasion) and the same period in 2023, UZ increased its total transportation volumes from 102 to 126 million tons.
In 2023, 22.3 million tons of all cargo was transported through sea ports, and 34.4 million tons through land crossings.
In general, over the course of the year, Ukrzaliznytsia transported an average of more than 12 million tons of cargo every month. November was a record-breaking month, when 14.1 million tons were transported by rail.
The indicators of domestic transportation increased most noticeably last year. Compared to 2022, they increased by 11.4% to 84.8 million tons.
Cargo nomenclature among the leaders in terms of volume in 2023:
grain cargoes — 30.6 million tons (+5.9%);
construction materials — 29.6 million tons (+29.6%);
iron and manganese ore — 27.5 million tons (–13.2%);
hard coal — 26.2 million tons (–11.2%);
ferrous metals — 8.2 million tons (–10.6%).
As previously reported, in 2023, more than 30 million tons of grain cargoes were transported by rail.