Chisinau-Odessa and Chisinau-Moscow trains will go via Transnistria, Update

The passenger trains Chisinau-Odessa and Chisinau-Moscow will run through the Transnistrian region from October 1. From the same date, Transnistria will be also crossed by freight trains, along the Cuchurgan-Causeni segment. A temporary agreement covering the period between October 1, 2010 and December 31, 2012 was signed by the railroad companies of Moldova, Russia and Ukraine, Novyi Reghion Agency reports, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. The agreement regulates the movement of the passenger trains № 65/66 Moscow-Chisinau, №5 95/596 Moscow-Chisinau, № 51/52 Saratov-Varna, and № 642/641 Chisinau-Odessa, on the Cuchurgan – Bender-2 segment. Sources in the Ukrainian railroad company said that if everything goes smoothly, the trains will run on a permanent basis after December 31, 2012. [Update] The five-car Chisinau-Odessa train will run once in 24 hours. At 6.00, it will set off from Chisinau and will reach Odessa at 12.20. According to the head of the Transnistrian Railways Serghei Martsinko, the passengers will travel from Chisinau to Cuhcurgan by a train of Moldova's Railways, while from Cuhcurgan to Odessa – by an electric train of the Odessa Railways. The same scheme will be used when going back. Contacted by Info-Prim Neo, Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration of Moldova Victor Osipov said the restoration of all the freight train routes is yet a problem. “We have cooperated with European railroad experts in identifying an acceptable solution to the problem,” he said. The Transnistrian Railways and Moldova's Railways reached an agreement to restore the Chisinau-Odessa train route late in August. The settlement was mediated by the Delegation of the European Union to Moldova.