There are several good photos included in the article (and more of it) here: https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2022/03/13/1086032747/russia-ukraine-poland-refugees-train-rail-tracks
Is mechanized equipment not available? I find it odd they are doing this by hand. I guess they cannot get the big equipment to the site as the track is too far gone? Very cool to see a rail line revived, no matter what the reason.
I'm assuming the lines are of the same gauge or that they've worked out a plan. European gauges get confusing, but I read that Poland is 4 Feet 8-1/2 and Ukraine is Russian gauge is 5 Feet.
There are some vehicles and a trackmobile or something in the photos but it also says that there are several crews all working simultaneously on different parts of the 18 mile stretch "that has deteriorated beyond use." It may also be that parts of it are inaccessible to mechanized equipment until other parts are at least partially repaired and working in six or seven places at once is still faster than trying to work end-to-end. Just guessing though. Still interesting that Poland sees this as a long-term problem. I'm also wondering if this line "through the hills" might also be seen as a (safer, faster, covert) way to convey military equipment/arms/ammunition across the border as well as refugees/passengers?
As I read the article, they are just attempting to open it to the border, where refugees await. So they would not need to worry about gauge issues. Seeing that this is being done by a small crew, using hand tools, I wonder if the effort is more of a local doing. They also spend a lot of time daily, just in the commuting. Which does not make sense.
