European railways can learn from Ukraine how to protect their infrastructure and quickly restore operations following attacks, acts of sabotage, cyber incidents, or natural disasters. This is the conclusion of a joint report published by CER and Ukrzaliznytsia, against the backdrop of increasingly close cooperation between European rail operators and the Ukrainian railway company.
The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), the organization representing railway operators and infrastructure managers in Europe, and Ukrzaliznytsia, Ukraine’s state-owned railway company, have published the special report “Preparedness and Resilience: What European Railways Can Learn from Ukraine”.
The document was launched on the occasion of the Conference on the Reconstruction of Ukraine and has a twofold objective: to support Ukraine’s resilience through European rail integration and to strengthen the preparedness of European rail systems for major crises.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukrainian railways have continued to operate almost without interruption, even though infrastructure, rolling stock, and digital systems have been targets of attacks. According to the report, Ukrzaliznytsia operates the third-largest railway network in Europe, with over 20,000 km of track, approximately 165,000 employees, and 63% of the country’s freight volume transported by rail.
At the same time, the company has evacuated over 4 million people since the start of the war, including 1 million children and 120,000 animals.
The Railroad: An Element of National Resilience
The CER–Ukrzaliznytsia report is based on a central idea: in Ukraine, the railway is no longer merely a transportation infrastructure but an element of national resilience.
The Ukrainian railways played three major roles during the war: supporting defense logistics and military mobility, evacuating civilians, and keeping the economy running through freight transport.
Over four years of operations under attack, Ukrzaliznytsia has developed its own concept of railway resilience, which combines threat detection, protection, rapid recovery capacity, and governance within an integrated framework.
The report identifies three risk scenarios for European railway systems.
The first is peacetime, when the main risks are cyberattacks, natural disasters, or rail accidents.
The second is the hybrid warfare zone, involving sabotage, drone incursions, or coordinated cyberattacks. The third is full-scale war—the situation Ukraine currently faces—where the rail system is deliberately targeted.
Complete protection is impossible
One of the key lessons from Ukraine is that no railway infrastructure can be completely protected against all threats. The report explicitly states that there is no “silver bullet” for protecting the railways, only a set of complementary measures applied at multiple levels.
Ukrzaliznytsia operates based on regular threat and vulnerability assessments, in coordination with military authorities and security services. Protection of the railway system includes real-time threat detection, electronic warfare measures, air defense in cooperation with the armed forces, and passive protection for critical assets.
With regard to infrastructure, prioritization is based on logistics corridors, logistics hubs, and individual facilities deemed essential. The focus is not on protecting every component, but on maintaining the system’s basic functionality.
In other words, if the infrastructure is hit, the objective is not the immediate restoration of all technical components, but the rapid resumption of rail service.
Rapid repair capability: the key lesson
The report emphasizes that railway resilience depends on the capacity for rapid repair and restoration. In Ukraine, this capacity allows traffic to resume within a few hours following certain attacks or disruptions.
To achieve this, Ukrzaliznytsia uses autonomous response teams equipped with specialized equipment, including firefighting trains, rail cranes, and pre-positioned stocks of parts and materials. The report also notes the usefulness of modular solutions, such as catenary systems or modular bridges, which can be quickly installed to restore traffic.
Another important element is the dispersal of rolling stock and critical assets. Locomotives, railcars, spare parts, and equipment are distributed in such a way that a single attack cannot paralyze an entire operational function.
Ukrainian Railways also employs redundancy plans for its fleet, alternative routes, limited regional autonomy, and ongoing coordination with local authorities and military administrations.
Railway personnel, part of the defense system
The report pays special attention to railway personnel. In Ukraine, dozens of railway employees have been killed and hundreds injured in attacks on the railway system.
To protect employees, multi-tiered measures are in place: shelters at stations for staff and passengers, protection of rolling stock, personal protective equipment such as helmets and bulletproof vests, as well as ongoing emergency training.
The report also highlights the importance of information security. Staff and passengers must be instructed not to post photos or videos on social media during sensitive situations, based on the assumption that any image could be viewed and exploited by the enemy.
Vertical Integration: An Advantage in Wartime
A key point in the report is the role of vertical integration. Ukrzaliznytsia is a vertically integrated state-owned company, meaning that infrastructure and operations are coordinated within a unified structure.
The report considers this integration a strategic advantage in wartime, as it enables rapid decision-making, a clear chain of command, and an immediate response to threats. In a major crisis, the authors say, a unified structure can help operations resume quickly after an attack.
This conclusion is relevant for Europe, where many rail systems are institutionally separated among infrastructure managers, transport operators, maintenance companies, and public authorities.
Lessons for European Military Mobility
The CER and Ukrzaliznytsia argue that the lessons from Ukraine must be incorporated into European policies on military mobility, critical infrastructure protection, and rail network financing.
The report directly mentions the future European military mobility package, the Connecting Europe Facility funding instrument, and the European Competitiveness Fund for 2028–2034. The document also links these lessons to the implementation of European directives on the resilience of critical entities and cybersecurity, including NIS2.
According to the report, the ability to recover quickly from attacks or incidents should become eligible for European funding. The document also proposes the development of common standards for the protection of critical railway infrastructure, cross-border military mobility exercises, and joint projects between European and Ukrainian railway companies.
“We have gone through what no other railway in the world has ever experienced”
Oleksandr Pertsevsky, chairman of the Board of Directors of Ukrzaliznytsia, said that over the past four years, the company has gone through an experience unprecedented for any railway system.
“In four years, we’ve gone through what no other railway in the world has ever faced: the evacuation of millions of people, the systematic destruction of infrastructure, cyberattacks, and relentless attacks on rolling stock—and we’ve continued to operate. Not because it was easy, but because stopping wasn’t an option,” Pertovsky said.
He added that this experience is the most valuable contribution Ukraine can offer Europe at this time. The Ukrainian official called for continued European support for Ukraine’s reconstruction and for the integration of the Ukrainian railway system into the EU network.
For his part, Alberto Mazzola, executive director of the CER, stated that Ukrzaliznytsia’s experience shows that rail transport is much more than just transportation infrastructure.
“It is a cornerstone of national resilience. European railways have much to learn from the Ukrainian model, from its capacity for rapid recovery to its integrated approaches to protection,” Mazzola said.
Europe is looking to Ukraine not only for reconstruction but also for insights into its own vulnerabilities
The report shifts the usual perspective on railway cooperation with Ukraine. It is not just about how Europe can help rebuild the Ukrainian network, but also about what Europe can learn from a railway company that operates daily under the pressure of war.
For European railways, the key lesson is that resilience means not only more robust infrastructure, but also tried-and-tested procedures, stockpiles, trained personnel, alternative routes, clear command, and the ability to quickly resume service when part of the system fails.
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