European Railroad Discussion > Arte TV documentary on wartime running Ukrainian passenger trains

There is a wonderful new short documentary just posted on YouTube taking you on a wartime 10 hour nighttime passenger train ride from Lviv in the west to Kyiv. 

The engineer, the conductor and the passengers talk about their experiences. Ukrainian railways normally has 231,000 workers. They are down to 80,000 but the trains are still running wherever they can. At least 55 rail workers have been killed on the job due to the hostilities.

We see the view from the cab, trackside MOW still going on and even anti-tank 'hedgehogs' alongside the track nearing Kyiv. 

Produced by Arte TV a joint French and German public broadcaster. Languages are Ukrainian with German narration and English subtitles.

Runs 24 minutes.  The link is below if you're interested.





Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/22 23:56 by Bondibluey.

I have tried to get the link to light up but the link editor isn't cooperating! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmfLPVGSTv0



Edited 7 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/22 23:52 by Bondibluey.

The Ukrainian Railway crews are heroes every bit as much as those in the fight. There was an excellent short feature about them on Fox News last night as well. We have taken the train to and from Lviv several times. And never would have dreamed it would be like this now. On a related note, Russian Railways were the first company in The Russian Federation to default since the invasion of Ukraine began.  

Train29 Wrote:
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> The Ukrainian Railway crews are heroes every bit
> as much as those in the fight. There was an
> excellent short feature about them on Fox News
> last night as well. We have taken the train to and
> from Lviv several times. And never would have
> dreamed it would be like this now. On a related
> note, Russian Railways were the first company in
> The Russian Federation to default since the
> invasion of Ukraine began.  

Russian Railways are a link in the Chinese Belt & Road initiative, handling a large land portion before loading onto container ships for the last leg into Europe.  China has suspended originating cargo for several weeks, so the Russian Railway may be squeezed

This is an incredibly powerful documentary. It's certainly worth the twenty minutes to gain an insight into the lives of the Ukranian people at this juncture.  If this link fails to open the page simply copy and paste it into your browser search window.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmfLPVGSTv0

Link worked for me, very interesting video.

Stanley Jackowski
Valrico, FL

I totally agree. Extremely well made under difficult conditions and how can you not admire the bravery of all the Ukrainian railway workers and their passengers.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/22 17:38 by Bondibluey.

Thanks for the link. I also enjoyed listening to the German as it is a second language to me, though I am no longer fluent.

With munitions, weaponry and volunteer fighters traveling the rails one might wonder why the Russians haven't destroyed the Ukrainian rail network. The answer is obvious to those of us who have studied railroads and their relationship to war. Obviously, the Russians plan on using the network to their advantage if they can control it. Let's hope that doesn't happen.

Victor B.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/15/22 23:20 by wabash2800.

wabash2800 Wrote:
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> With munitions, weaponry and volunteer fighters
> traveling the rails one might wonder why the
> Russians haven't destroyed the Ukrainian rail
> network. The answer is obvious to those of us who
> have studied railroads and their relationship to
> war. Obviously, the Russians plan on using the
> network to their advantage if they can control it.
> Let's hope that doesn't happen.

The Ukrainians seem to have done some demolition of their own.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/12/key-russian-railway-bridge-destroyed-in-belgorod-border-region-with-ukraine

I just can't imagine the US railroad companies doing this. The rails - yeah, we still have railroading in combat zones such as Chicago, Philadelphia, and LA. Management to run the show?

no.

TAW

Paradoxically, being near a major natural gas trunk line may be the safest place in Ukraine right now.

Both the Russians and the Ukrainians need the revenue to continue fighting. So, lower chances of it getting bombed or blown up.

Posted from Android

What's  the device that engineer use's in the beginning of the video that looks like a steering wheel. My sister-in-law, who retired from teaching German, asked me about that, since obviously locomotives are not steered.

Victor



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/22 19:15 by wabash2800.

wabash2800 Wrote:
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> What the the device the engineer that engineer use
> in the beginning of the video that looks  a
> steering wheel. My sister-in-law, who retired from
> teaching German, asked me about that, since
> obviously locomotives are not steered.

It's the power controller. Turn clockwise to increase speed, counterclockwise to apply regenerative braking.

Thanks.

Victor B.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/22 13:47 by wabash2800.

wabash2800 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> With munitions, weaponry and volunteer fighters
> traveling the rails one might wonder why the
> Russians haven't destroyed the Ukrainian rail
> network. The answer is obvious to those of us who
> have studied railroads and their relationship to
> war.

A report in the latest issue of the British magazine Modern Railways says: "UZ [the Ukrainian national railway] announced early in the conflict that all the railway lines that linked Ukraine to Russia had been blown up by the Ukrainian military to prevent them being used by the invading army.  UZ's workshops have been repurposed in several locations to manufacture hundreds of 'hedgehog' tank traps from old stocks of rail."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/22 00:14 by railsmith.

But it appears the Belarus Russian connection is still open?

Victor B.


railsmith Wrote:
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> A report in the latest issue of the British
> magazine Modern Railways says: "UZ announced
> early in the conlfict that all the railway lines
> that linked Ukraine to Russia had been blown up by
> the Ukrainian military to prevent them being used
> by the invading army.  UZ's workshops have been
> repurposed in several locations to manufacture
> hundreds of 'hedgehog' tank traps from old stocks
> of rail."

NatRvw has 160 images of Ukraine destruction and military.
"A train, which residents say was destroyed by shelling, at the train station in Trostianets, Sumy Region, Ukraine, April 15, 2022. Zohra Bensemra/Reuters"



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/22 13:16 by Lurch_in_ABQ.

---

wabash2800 Wrote:
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> But it appears the Belarus Russian connection is
> still open?
>
> Victor B.
>
>
Yes.

Belarus is aligned with Russia, and its railways moved Russian troops into position.

Posted from Android

Many Belarus rr workers are not cooperating with the war

dan Wrote:
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> Many Belarus rr workers are not cooperating with
> the war

Yes. A substantial number of Belarus people are in Ukraine, fighting the Russians.

It should get interesting when these folks go home.

Posted from Android