Ukraine wants Canada to lend its expertise – and donate crucial railway parts – to keep its embattled passenger and cargo rail system running as landmines and missile strikes threaten to stall the country’s lifeline.
The rail system is vital to the war effort, and has been since the first days of the invasion that began one year ago this week.
Millions of people used trains to escape occupied cities and flee to neighbouring countries. Thousands of wounded soldiers and civilians were also transported by rail to hospitals in safer parts of the country.
The railway is also how Ukraine moves aid and soldiers to front-line areas, where the fighting is most intense, and restores residents and supplies to territories returned to Ukrainian control after the Russian occupying forces leave.
Constant attacks on rail and other critical infrastructure has rendered 20 per cent of the system unusable, said Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, the CEO of Ukrainian Railways’ passenger company. He added that more than 300 railworkers have also been killed.
“Very often they have to go right after the shelling ends, when it’s still dangerous, to start repairs,” he said in an interview from Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine.
The state-owned rail company, known in Ukraine as Ukrzaliznytsia, has been operating almost as a paramilitary unit to keep essential goods and people moving from one end of the vast country to the other, Pertsovskyi said.
But Ukraine is looking to do more than repair what has been damaged, he said.
The company wants to build a better, more modern system, and it has asked for Canada’s help.
“Canada is a big industrial manufacturer, so of course there could be certain equipment types or certain technology solutions,” he said.
One of his goals is to make the gauge of the tracks _ the distance between the two rails _ more compatible with the standard in the rest of Europe. It would be no small feat, considering there is 20,000 km of track in Ukraine.
The railway also hopes to replace shattered stations with ones that will better serve Ukrainians after the war, including those with lasting disabilities.
“Unfortunately there’s so many, even young people, who get amputations because of this war, and our key task is to make our railway facilities fully accessible,” he said.
Canada could help with equipment, engineering and advice to rebuild damaged buildings up to accessibility standards, he said.
Canada’s Transport Minister Omar Alghabra helped broker an agreement last fall between Canadian rail companies and Ukrainian Railways in response to a request from the Ukrainian government to support the resiliency and reconstruction of the system, including sourcing parts from Canadian manufacturers.
“Our members are marshalling equipment and expertise to help our Ukrainian friends keep trains moving, despite Russia’s incursions, while also planning for the future,” Caroline Healey, executive vice-president of the Railway Association of Canada, said in a written statement.
The Railway Association of Canada represents Canada’s three major rail companies: Canadian National Railway, Canadian Pacific Railway and Via Rail, as well as Canadian rail manufacturers.
The association is working to figure out what parts Ukraine needs most, and where to get them in Canada.
Pertsovskyi said workers in Ukraine have already repaired hundreds of kilometres of tracks and nearly a dozen bridges that have been damaged in the war. He said sometimes, though, they are just temporary fixes.
The most notable example might be the major bridge between Kyiv and the nearby suburb of Irpin, which was occupied by Russian forces at the very start of the war. Ukrainian forces destroyed the bridge over the Irpin River that connected the two cities to prevent Russian tanks from advancing into the capital.
“It’s like major, major destruction,” Pertsovskyi said. “The river is beneath the bridge and it was completely like blown apart.”
Once Russian troops were pushed out of the suburb, it took the country less than a month to restore commuter rail service, he said. Meanwhile, the bridge between the port city of Odessa and the nearby region of Bessarabia has been attacked more than 30 times.
“They keep attacking it and (they’re) still not able to completely stop the operation,” Pertsovskyi said.
The work comes at an enormous human cost. Landmines left behind after the Russians leave make repairs incredibly dangerous for workers.
Missile attacks on power stations have also made it difficult to keep trains running, though deploying diesel trains during power outages now happens quickly and smoothly, he said.
Stations such the one in Lviv have been transformed into what Pertsovskyi calls “invincibility fortresses,” where people from the city can come to warm up, charge their electronic devices and sleep on station benches when Russian bombing cuts the power to communities.
Though the tent city of refugees and social services that were outside of Lviv Station is now mostly packed up and gone, one tent remains. There, volunteer Roman Mazur, among others, sleeps when he is not handing out hot tea to travellers leaving or returning to Ukraine.
Inside, the tent is piled high with boxes of food and other supplies to help people along their journey.
The statues that flank the ornate entrance to the station are wrapped up to protect them against damage in case of nearby explosions, but still the trains run mostly on time.
As more territories are reclaimed, Pertsovskyi hopes to repair more rail lines leading to those towns and communities.
“Bringing life back to the occupied cities is now the top priority,” he said.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers placed All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey on injured reserve because of his lingering calf and Achilles tendon injuries.
The move made Saturday means McCaffrey will miss at least four more games after already sitting out the season opener. He is eligible to return for a Thursday night game in Seattle on Oct. 10.
McCaffrey got hurt early in training camp and missed four weeks of practice before returning to the field on a limited basis last week. He was a late scratch for the opener on Monday night against the Jets and now is sidelined again after experiencing pain following practice on Thursday.
McCaffrey led the NFL last season with 2,023 yards from scrimmage and was tied for the league lead with 21 touchdowns, winning AP Offensive Player of the Year.
The Niners made up for McCaffrey’s absence thanks to a strong performance from backup Jordan Mason, who had 28 carries for 147 yards and a touchdown in San Francisco’s 32-19 victory over the New York Jets. Mason is set to start again Sunday at Minnesota.
After missing 23 games because of injuries in his final two full seasons with Carolina, McCaffrey had been healthy the past two seasons.
He missed only one game combined in 2022-23 — a meaningless Week 18 game last season for San Francisco when he had a sore calf. His 798 combined touches from scrimmage in the regular season and playoffs were the third most for any player in a two-year span in the past 10 years.
Now San Francisco will likely rely heavily on Mason, a former undrafted free agent out of Georgia Tech who had 83 carries his first two seasons. He had at least 10 touches just twice before the season opener, when his 28 carries were the most by a 49ers player in a regular-season game since Frank Gore had 31 against Seattle on Oct. 30, 2011.
The Niners also have fourth-round rookie Isaac Guerendo and Patrick Taylor Jr. on the active roster. Guerendo played three offensive snaps with no touches in the opener. Taylor had 65 carries for Green Bay from 2021-23.
San Francisco also elevated safety Tracy Walker III from the practice squad for Sunday’s game against Minnesota.
BRUSSELS – Canada walked away with some hardware at the Diamond League track and field competition Saturday.
Alysha Newman finished third in women’s pole vault, while Marco Arop did the same in the men’s 800-metre race.
Newman won a bronze medal in her event at the recent Paris Olympics. Arop grabbed silver at the same distance in France last month.
Australia’s Nina Kennedy, who captured gold at the Summer Games, again finished atop the podium. Sandi Morris of the United States was second.
Newman set a national record when she secured Canada’s first-ever pole vault medal with a bronze at the Olympics with a height of 4.85 metres. The 30-year-old from London, Ont., cleared 4.80 metres in her second attempt Saturday, but was unable conquer 4.88 metres on three attempts.
Arop, a 25-year-old from Edmonton, finished the men’s 800 metres with a time of one minute 43.25 seconds. Olympic gold medallist Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya was first with a time of 1:42.70.
Djamel Sedjati, edged out by Arop for silver in Paris last month, was second 1:42.87
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.
MILAN (AP) — Bologna’s preparations for its Champions League debut are not going well though it managed to spoil Como’s first Serie A home match in 21 years on Saturday.
Bologna came from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw to gather three points from its opening four matches.
Bologna hosts Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday. Its only other appearance in Europe’s top competition was in 1964 in the preliminary round of the old European Cup.
AC Milan is also winless as it prepares for a Tuesday Champions League match against Liverpool. The Rossoneri hosted promoted Venezia later. Juventus drew at Empoli 0-0.
Como made a great start in the fifth minute when Patrick Cutrone attempted to roll the ball across the six-yard box but it took a huge deflection off Bologna defender Nicolò Casale for an own goal.
Bologna thought it was gifted a way back into the match on the stroke of halftime when referee Marco Piccinini signalled for a penalty following an Alberto Moreno handball, but he revoked his decision and instead gave a free kick because the handball was just outside the area.
Bologna improved after the break but found itself further behind when Cutrone raced onto a through ball and cut inside past a defender and fired into the far bottom corner.
Tommaso Pobega hit the post for Bologna, which finally pulled one back in the 76th through substitute Santiago Castro.
Another substitute helped the visitors snatch a point when Samuel Iling-Junior curled a fine strike into the top left corner in stoppage time.
Unbeaten sides
Juventus, and more surprisingly Empoli, are among six unbeaten sides.
Empoli held Monza and Bologna to draws either side of a shock 2-1 win at Roma. Juventus’ perfect start to the season was ruined by Roma in a goalless draw before the international break.
On Saturday, there were few clearcut chances in Empoli although home goalkeeper Devis Vásquez made spectacular saves to fingertip out a Federico Gatti header and deny Dusan Vlahovic in a one on one with the Juventus forward.
Empoli had a good opportunity in the 73rd minute following an Alberto Grassi one-two with Pietro Pellegri but the finish was straight at Mattia Perin.
The host could have won it right at the death but Gatti flew in with a great sliding block to keep out Emanuel Gyasi’s close-range effort.
Juventus hosts PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Tuesday.
