THE ROLE OF RAILWAY TRANSPORT IN THE EVACUATION OF THE POPULATION DURING HOSTILITIES IN UKRAINE

Abstract

In the extremely difficult time of aggression by the Russian Federation, the first and most important task for Ukraine's railway transport is to provide logistics for the transportation of humanitarian and military aid, as well as internal movement (evacuation) of the population. The state transport is covered by 2-5 times increased van traffic and passenger traffic. In such a situation it is necessary to control the number of passengers at the stations, to provide them with assistance and advice. The volunteer movement is one of the important conditions for the functioning of the state in wartime. Volunteers at the stations ensure the distribution of passenger flows in individual directions and provide advice on the schedule of trains. Humanitarian aid is now arriving in large quantities and needs to be delivered as soon as possible to places where it is most needed, to cities where active hostilities are taking place and to cities where the flow of internally displaced persons is concentrated. The logic of the movement of passengers must be clearly formed, because in a difficult emotional and physical state, people have a hard time understanding the course of action and the requirements for the carriage of passengers. After analyzing the formed passenger flows in the first days of evacuation, the main directions of movement of citizens were determined. The analysis revealed that the number of passengers in evacuation trains heading west to the country could cause overcrowding in the receiving cities and cause a collapse in urban transport, settlements and food supply. These are the main issues facing the government and the logistics system for moving people and goods across the country. The solution to the acute problem was the possibility of simplifying passenger transportation and the organization of international trains with allied countries, where there is the possibility of transportation without changing the rolling stock through different track widths. The development of such routes has made it possible to simplify the logistics of population movement and reduce the burden on the border service of Ukraine. To reduce the crowds after crossing the borders of Ukraine, a schedule of trains from the nearest railway stations of neighboring countries was developed together with the neighboring states, which facilitates the movement of migrants within the routes of passengers. The second problem is the overcrowding of trains and the complexity of their equipment for flights, as well as the establishment of a system to provide them with drinking water on the routes. Due to sufficient technical equipment, coordinated work of railway transport workers, and their high executive discipline, this chain has been successfully implemented.