Rail Partners with Ukraine
Rail Partners with Ukraine took place on 12 September 2023. The event welcomed senior representatives of the railway industry for a unique reception in aid of the Global Ukraine Railway Task Force, raising funds to deliver food parcels to Ukrainian rail workers and their families.
Attendees heard from representatives of Ukrainian Railways about delivering an operational railway during the current conflict.
We are delighted that, with the support of the UK rail industry, we were able to raise £106,485 for the Global Ukraine Rail Task Force, to purchase food packages for Ukrainian railway families. You can find more information about the charity further down this page.
Kit for Kyiv
In partnership with the Global Ukraine Rail Task Force, Rail Partners is pleased to launch the #KitForKyiv campaign – an initiative to support the purchase of body armour for train drivers travelling to the frontline.
Funds donated to the Task Force from July 2024 will go directly to this campaign. Click the button below to visit the donations page.
Rail Partners with Ukraine at Rail Live
Rail Partners with Ukraine at Rail Live took place at the Rail Live trade show at Long Marston on Thursday 20 June. It was another chance to hear from representatives of Ukranian Railways on what it is like to run a railway during a conflict, and how it is a crucial aspect of the war effort.
Click the link to find out more about this event.
Aid deliveries
Nearly 7.500 food parcels, paid for by donations from British railway companies, have now been delivered to front line Ukrainian rail workers who have been helping to repair the damage from the latest round of Russian missile strikes.
Read more here.
On 10 January 2024, Rail Partners chief executive, Andy Bagnall, travelled, along with Steve Montgomery, managing director of First Rail, and David Brown, managing director of Arriva Trains, to Ukraine to show solidarity with Ukrainian railway workers and to see first hand the realities they face while supporting the war effort.
Read the news release about the visit and Andy's Blog here:
Arriva is an international transport business that operates in 10 countries across Europe.
In the UK, they operate regional national and open access rail passenger services:
In addition to their train operations they run a leading train maintenance company
First Group operates three major UK train operating companies and two open access passenger rail services:
First Group are also 'shadow operator' on the HS2 programme.
Govia is a joint venture between the Go-Ahead Group and Keolis and operates GTR (Govia Thameslink Railway).
Transport UK, formerly operating as Abellio UK, is a leading private sector transport operator serving millions of rail and bus passengers every day. Owned and operated in the UK, it runs Greater Anglia, West Midlands Trains, East Midlands Railway and Merseyrail, as well as 11% of London’s bus routes. It has been serving its customers for over 20 years and is at the forefront of creating the future of transport in the UK.
Rail Partners with Ukraine was held in support of the Global Ukraine Rail Task Force and their food package campaign.
The Global Ukraine Rail Task Force was set up at the start of the war to coordinate technical, mechanical, and policy support for Ukrainian freight and passenger rail companies, as well as refugee trains.
Subsequently the Task Force has been working with WE AID — founded by Phineo, the German branch of the leading charitable organisation United Way — on a donation campaign to raise funds for the Ukrainian railways. Specifically, and most relevant to this event, they have provided the funding for food packages.
Oleg Yakovenko
Director, strategy and transformation
JSC Ukrainian Railways
Yuriy Nemchykov
Director of corporate finance
JSC Ukrainian Railways
The presentation slides shared by Oleg and Yuriy can be viewed here, or click below to download:
Kasia Madera
Kasia Madera is a BBC News presenter with over 20 years of broadcasting experience. A regular anchor of many of the BBC's flagship programmes, Kasia was a continuous and reassuring on-air presence throughout the Covid pandemic.
At the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Kasia was one of the first international journalists to report live from the Poland-Ukraine border. Of Polish heritage, Kasia is bilingual in Polish and was able to interview many refugees in a mixture of Polish and Ukrainian. More recently Kasia anchored BBC News from the NATO summit in Madrid as well as playing a role in the extensive coverage of the UK's mourning period for Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.
Kasia Madera
Music
Anastasia Gould is from a Ukrainian-British musical family and has played piano since the age of four and clarinet from the age of nine. She has competed in multiple festivals and competitions, most recently the BPSE junior competition. She supports Ukraine through solo and chamber performances at charity concerts.
Her family has also founded the ‘Voice for Ukraine UK’ choir and the London Ukrainian Symphony Orchestra.
Anastasia Gould
Photography exhibition
Jelle Krings’ work aims to humanise large amorphous themes such as war and armed conflict, migration, climate change and geopolitical issues, through character-driven, long-term, multimedia projects.
Krings regularly contributes to media outlets like CNN, The Guardian, National Geographic, Newsweek, Stern, and De Volkskrant. He is currently focused on the war in Ukraine and has been following the plight of its railway workers since the full scale Russian invasion in February 2022.
The resulting photo book 'Iron People'is expected to be released in the course of 2023 and is available for preorder here: jellekrings.com/ironpeoplebook
Jelle Krings
Photograph by Jelle Krings, part of the 'Iron People' exhibition
About Ukrainian Railways (UZ)
Download a digital copy of the event guide here:
