The Uzhhorod – Košice broad gauge track is a single track railway mostly in eastern Slovakia, which is used especially for iron ore transportation from Ukraine to the steel factory near Košice.
In the 1960s, after construction of the steel factory in Košice, the import of iron ore to Slovakia rose steeply, and the existing checkpoint in Čierna nad Tisou couldn't handle this amount anymore, particularly in winter, as Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union had different gauges, meaning that all the transported goods had to be reloaded. It was thus decided to build one track in Czechoslovakia with Soviet technical parameters to ease the transport. Construction works started on November 4, 1965, and the track was opened on May 1, 1966. In 1978, the track was electrified.
The trains are hauled by two electric twin-locomotives, similar to the late versions of PKP:s ET40 but with SA3 coupler instead of buffers and chain couplings. This is with the exception of westward operation between Trebišov and Ruskov where the track elevation is over 15 ‰, and two sets of locos are needed. This portion of the track has the heaviest catenary construction in the EU (2 work cables, 1 fitting cable and 3 additional cables).
This single track line is for freight operation only, but there are some diesel motor cars for railway personnel.
There are plans to extend the line 450 km westwards, by building a broad gauge railway all the way to Vienna in Austria. An agreement was signed between the railway operators of Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine and Russia in April 2010;[1] they formed a new company, Breitspur Planungsgesellschaft, to develop the railway. The project passed a feasibility study in December 2010.[2] Construction is planned to start in 2013 and operation in 2016. A cost estimate is €4.7bn. An important type of goods will be containers, either between Western Europe and Russia or between Western Europe and China.[1]