On April 6, 2023, JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia” successfully carried out a test trip on the 1435 mm wide European track gauge from Poland to Rava-Ruska (Ukraine). This was reported by the official account of “Ukrzaliznytsia”.

It is planned to open the connection for passengers in the summer and organize a convenient transfer hub in Rava-Ruska between trains from Warsaw on the 1435 mm European gauge and trains from Lviv on the 1520 mm Ukrainian gauge. In the future, the project of extending the European track gauge directly to Lviv is being considered.

The railway checkpoint in Rava-Ruska has not served passengers for more than 20 years. Ukrzaliznytsia restored the 8.4 km long section of European rails from the border to the city and restored the railway station in Rava-Ruska.

The Polish side will need several months to deploy a full-fledged customs border post and complete all formalities, after which the date of the start of regular services will be officially announced.

In fact, it would be very cool to replace all Ukrainian rails with European rails, but this is a decade-long job that requires political will and a lot of money.