Suburban diesel train Kolomyia-Dilove. From Prykarpattia to the geographic centre of Europe

The suburban train 6441 Kolomyia-Dilove links Prykarpattia and Zakarpattia, the Ivano-Frankivsk and Transcarpathian regions. In 2022 Ukrzaliznytsia rebuilt 20 kilometres of track that runs along the border with Romania on Transcarpathian soil, and extended the Kolomyia-Rakhiv service on to Dilove, with a stop in the village of Berlybash. The first train to one of the geographic centres of Europe was greeted at the Dilove passenger railway point on 26 August 2022.

The suburban diesel train Kolomyia-Dilove

The morning suburban train Kolomyia-Dilove, number 6441, departs from Kolomyia station at 08.10 and arrives at the Dilove stopping point at 13.25. The journey takes 5 hours 15 minutes.

 

The train makes 21 stops along the route, spending 1 hour 6 minutes on them. The diesel train's route runs through picturesque country in the Ukrainian Carpathians, with stops at the stations of Tovmachyk, Sadzhavka, Dobrotiv, Deliatyn, Dora, Yaremche, Yamna, Mykulychyn, Tatariv, Vorokhta, Voronenko, Lazeshchyna, Yasinia, Kvasy, Rakhiv.

 

The suburban diesel train Kolomyia-Dilove

Two passenger carriages are filled almost to capacity with local people hurrying to work and about their errands, and also with tourists who have nowhere to hurry and who, thanks to the slow movement of the train, take pleasure in gazing out of the window at the Carpathian ridges, the mountain rivers and the forest tracts. The train runs along curving tracks and through tunnels, over bridges and viaducts, which lends the journey a touristic appeal.

 

The suburban diesel train Kolomyia-Dilove

Evidently the carriage had run various routes, listed on the table of sanitary zones. The direction changed, the carriage was turned around, but the table was not taken down.

The daily timetable of the diesel train may change on account of works to repair the infrastructure and the rolling stock. From Dilove the train 6442 departs at 14.15.

The suburban diesel train Kolomyia-Dilove

The train runs slowly along curving tracks and through tunnels, over bridges and viaducts built in the 1890s. Most of the bridges were blown up during the First and Second World Wars. After the Brusilov offensives and the partisan campaigns of Sydir Kovpak and Semen Rudniev, all that remained of the beautiful stone arched crossings were the piers and ruin. In time the destroyed spans across the mountain rivers and valleys were rebuilt, yet only in Vorokhta can one see railway relics from the end of the nineteenth century. The line is not electrified. And on the Yaremche-Rakhiv stretch you admire the wonderful, unpredictable, ever-changing nature of the Ukrainian Carpathians. The caprices of the weather in the Carpathians are felt especially keenly: beyond the ridges and the passes, after springtime warmth and sun, rain suddenly falls, or unexpectedly everything is covered in snow. This year winter returned in the middle of spring and dusted with snow the blossoming trees that had answered the March warmth. The glades of crocuses changed their sheet from blue-violet to snow-white. Just as you never know what will open before you round the next bend in the window, so beyond each mountain slope a blizzard and a snowstorm meet you unawares, or hail and icy pellets. In time the storm subsides, and through the heavy, stern clouds that drift by at arm's length warm sunbeams break through, and a rainbow plays in the sky. You ride along and marvel at how high in the mountains people settle and build fine homesteads. And the highlanders, moreover, keep their distinctive traditions and culture, and are versed in building, sheep-farming, pottery and woodworking. The mountains draw you with their clean air, their incredible views, the singing of the birds and the sense of boundless space. The Carpathians attract with the variety of their tourist routes; this is a favourite place of rest and relaxation, of sanatoriums and guest houses. In this mountain land nature reserves and sanctuaries have been created for the sake of preserving rare plants and the virgin forests. Not for nothing did the enchanting beauty of the Carpathian land inspire the creation of masterpieces by our poets, writers, painters and film-makers. And here, beyond the pass, the snow is already gone, and the truly sunny Transcarpathia meets us with tender spring weather. The mighty and mysterious Carpathians are to be come to know, explored and studied — in works of art, on hikes, on journeys. And a discovery there will be at every bend, beyond every slope.