Ukraine opens its first EU-gauge line, Uzhhorod–Chop

On 5 September 2025 Ukraine opened a new 22 km standard-gauge (1,435 mm) railway line between Uzhhorod and Chop, its first EU-gauge line, built parallel to the existing 1,520 mm broad-gauge track. The roughly EUR 28.6 million project was financed equally by an EIB loan and an EU grant under the Connecting Europe Facility and was completed ahead of schedule despite the war. Since 12 September 2025, through passenger trains have run from Uzhhorod to Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava and Košice without the need to change gauge at the border; electrification of the line is planned for 2026. Update (25 Sep 2026): The electrification of the 22 km standard-gauge line Uzhhorod–Chop is complete, as Ukraine's minister for reconstruction, infrastructure and transport, Mikola Kalašnik, told an economic forum. Next, the second project phase from Chop to the Hungarian border (Zahony) is due by the end of 2026; because the line runs on 3 kV DC while Hungary uses 25 kV AC, multi-system locomotives are needed to cross without changing engines. The electrification project costs UAH 1.3 billion (EUR 24 million) in total, half from an EU grant (Connecting Europe Facility) and half from the state budget and the company's own funds; UAH 285 million (EUR 5.6 million) has been allocated from the state budget for 2026. (LOK Report, 25 Sep 2026)