Ukrzaliznytsya plans to electrify railways, seeks electric locomotives

Minister of Transportation and Communications Joseph Vinsky said this week that Ukraine’s state-owned railway operator Ukrzaliznytsya planned to spend USD 1.4 bln to electrify more than 2.2 ths km of the nation’s rails by 2020. Vinsky said that Germany’s Siemens is the leading candidate to supply electric locomotives; Siemens has already cooperated on the production of electric locomotives in Dnipropetrovsk. Vinsky indicated that Siemens could be interested in building a locomotive manufacturing plant in Ukraine.