Moldova and Ukraine are part of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) and have access to EU funding supporting the priority transport connections.
In total, the EU has mobilised more than EUR 2.3 billion to improve the Solidarity Lanes - out of which EUR 1.55 billion in non-reimbursable grant support from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).
The Connecting Europe Facility has leveraged more than EUR 2.9 billion investments through 38 transport projects.
The funding includes:
- Investments in main rail and road border-crossing points along the TEN-T, connecting Ukraine with Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova;
- The progressive integration of Ukraine and Moldova into the EU’s railway network via the European standard gauge (1435mm);
- Integration into other EU transport systems (air traffic management, river information systems, intelligent transport systems).
The CEF funding for Solidarity Lanes also supports projects in EU Member States, improving connections and long-distance traffic between the EU and Ukraine and Moldova as well as ensuring Ukrainian goods reach worldwide trade routes through European ports.
First deliveries of key transport projects
On 15 January 2025, the modernised train inspection point at the Polish-Ukrainian border (Mostyska II train station) has been opened. This is part of a EUR 65 million project, co-financed by the Connecting Europe Facility and the European Investment Bank.
The works involved relocating the train inspection point from just over the border from Poland further down to Mostyska II train station, constructing four new inspection towers and new tracks, thereby removing a bottleneck on the Polish-Ukrainian border.
Thanks to an additional CEF project, recently awarded, seamless travel from Poland (Rzeszow) to Lviv (Ukraine) will also be possible in a near future.
Additional feasibility studies are underway for a “European Standard” railway connection on other main TEN-T railway lines, such as between Lublin (Poland) to Kovel (Ukraine).
In September 2025, Ukraine opened its first railway line based on the EU standard for track width. The 22-kilometre line - funded by an EU grant and an EIB loan - connects the Ukrainian cities of Uzhhorod and Chop (near Ukraine’s border to Slovakia and Hungary). As a result, rail travel between Uzhhorod and Chop and onward to EU cities such as Košice in Slovakia, Budapest in Hungary, and Vienna in Austria will be smoother. The new railway line will prevent delays caused by the previous need to change trains at the borders due to the different rail gauges.
This is part of the cross-border project for rail cross-border connectivity between Slovakia, Hungary and Ukraine. The CEF grant of EUR 67 million supports the optimisation and modernisation transport flows at the rail border crossings. It also includes feasibility studies to improve the traffic management as well as upgrades to signalling, communication systems - paving the ground for fully integrated border-crossing management.
More projects are currently being implemented in Ukraine, Moldova and EU Member States - for example, at the Vadul-Siret railway station in Ukraine, on the border with Romania, or improving road cross-border connectivity between Ukraine, Moldova and Romania.