Our country has been an independent and sovereign state for 34 years. During this time, Ukraine has gone through a significant transformation: we are confidently moving towards membership in the European Union, implementing European norms and standards, and abandoning old approaches to technical regulation.
However, this cannot be said about the situation that exists in rail transport. Regulatory requirements that were formed back in Soviet times are still in effect here. Part of the regulatory framework is based on the provisions adopted by the now defunct State Administration of Railway Transport of Ukraine, as well as on documents of the Council on Railway Transport of the CIS member states.
Such requirements, embedded in regulatory legal acts, lead to confusion and disorder, and as a result, significantly harm the issues of safe operation of railway transport. I will give examples:
• “Rules for Technical Operation of Railways of Ukraine” (clause 9.3) require: “9.3. Types and main characteristics of rolling stock being newly built are approved in accordance with the procedure established by the Ministry of Transport of Ukraine. The technical specifications for rolling stock being newly built are approved by the supplier in agreement with the State Administration of Railway Transport of Ukraine, and drawings of assemblies and parts and technical conditions are approved in agreement with the relevant main departments of the State Administration of Railway Transport of Ukraine.”
• “Rules for the operation of own freight wagons”, approved by the order of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine dated 29.01.2015 No. 17 (clause 3.2) establish: “3.2. It is not allowed to release own freight wagons on public tracks that are not entered into the ADB of the Railways, except for cases provided for in clause 4.14 of section IV of these Rules. Data on own freight wagons is entered into the ADB of the Railways on the basis of agreements between railways and freight wagon owners and taking into account the Methodological Provisions on the maintenance of the Automated Data Bank of the Freight Wagon Fleet, approved by the Council on Railway Transport of the CIS Member States on April 25, 2001”.
Order 647. The issue of decommissioning freight cars in Ukraine is under threat
A vivid example of how shortcomings in the form of outdated requirements laid down in regulatory legal acts harm the market and the issue of railway transport safety is the order of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine No. 647 dated 11/30/2021, which approved the “Procedure for conducting a complex of diagnostic, repair and registration operations aimed at extending the service life of freight cars (except for freight cars of technological railway transport enterprises intended for the movement of goods for production purposes within the territory of such enterprises), established by the manufacturer, the terms of extending the service life of such cars”.
LLC “SPE VC “AZOVMASHTEST”, which I have managed for many years, specializes in conducting technical diagnostics of the condition of freight rolling stock in order to determine the possibility of continuing extension of the service life of wagons, and I am well aware of the situation that has developed with Order No. 647.
In the coming months, there will be no one to write off wagons
In accordance with Order 647, the right to perform technical diagnostics work to extend the service life of freight wagons is granted to specialized organizations by the Wagon Management Commission of the Council for Railway Transport of the Commonwealth member states.
1. Firstly, this Wagon Management Commission is located in Moscow, the capital of the aggressor state, with which the war has been going on for eleven years (4 of which are full-scale).
2. Secondly, Ukraine has withdrawn from this Council for Railway Transport.
Thus, it becomes impossible to obtain or extend the right to perform technical diagnostics work. And based on the fact that such a right was granted for a period of no more than 5 years, in the next 2-3 months, such a right will expire for almost all specialized organizations. The provision of services will become impossible or monopolistic.
Legal conflict between old approaches and new requirements
Another significant drawback of Order No. 647 is that the order does not define the requirements for the status of competence that specialized organizations must meet. Historically, starting from the zero years, specialized organizations had to have the status of an independent accredited testing laboratory. To obtain the right to conduct technical diagnostics of wagons, such a testing laboratory had to have a petition to the Council from JSC Ukrzaliznytsia. All technical decisions regarding the possibility of extending the service life of a particular wagon had to be agreed upon also in JSC Ukrzaliznytsia. It is clear that such independence was managed by a specialized organization. Another important point: a new type of conformity assessment bodies has appeared in Ukraine - independent inspection bodies. It is they who are entrusted with the task of expert assessment of products at the stage of their operation. This is enshrined in the draft Law of Ukraine "On the system and peculiarities of the functioning of the railway transport market of Ukraine", which was developed by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Article 36 of this Law establishes the following: “After the expiration of the operating (service) period of rolling stock established by the manufacturer, the extension of its operating period is allowed in accordance with the Procedure for extending the operating (service) period of rolling stock approved by the central executive body that ensures the formation of state policy in the field of railway transport.
The extension of the operating (service) period of rolling stock after the expiration of its operating (service) period determined by the manufacturer is carried out by independent inspection bodies accredited in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Accreditation of Conformity Assessment Bodies”, the scope of which includes inspection work on conducting inspections and tests to assess compliance with the requirements of the Procedure for extending the operating (service) period of rolling stock.”.
That is, Order 647 currently does not take into account the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
Such shortcomings of the order make its implementation impossible, and also provide grounds for a large number of lawsuits. And the “icing on the cake” was the decision of the Kyiv District Administrative Court of 05/19/2025 in case No. 640/4396/22 on recognizing Order No. 647 as illegal and invalid.
The procedure for writing off wagons must be revised
Thus, if the Ministry of Reconstruction of Ukraine does not make appropriate changes to Order No. 647 as soon as possible, the grounds for conducting technical diagnostics and deciding on the possibility of further operation of freight wagons that have reached the end of their service life will disappear. The consequences of such a situation for owners (lessees, operators) of freight wagons are easy to predict. Small operating companies will feel this especially. Despite the surplus of freight wagons, significant market fluctuations will cause harm.
I would also like to add that other regulatory legal acts that refer to the State Administration of Railway Transport of Ukraine, the Council for Railway Transport of the CIS Member States, and the standards and norms of the Soviet Union are also subject to rapid revision.