‘Rail Force One’: PM Modi’s 20-hour train journey to Ukraine; all you need to know

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit Ukraine on Friday (August 23) and his trip to Kyiv will involve a 20-hour overnight train journey on ‘Rail Force One’ from Poland.

First, Modi will visit Poland on August 21 and 22. This will be the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Poland in the past 45 years.

​He will be accorded a ceremonial welcome in Warsaw. He will call on President Andrzej Sebastian Duda and will hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Modi will also interact with the Indian community in Poland.

Modi’s Ukraine visit and train journey

​Thereafter, the Prime Minister will travel to Ukraine. This will be the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Ukraine in more than 30 years.

According to media reports, Modi will travel on ‘Rail Force One’ train from Poland to Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and it will involve a journey of about 20 hours. However, some reports said ‘Rail Force One’ name was given to only the train that ferried US President Joe Biden.

It is still not clear what is the name of the train on which Modi will travel. But most world leaders have used the same wagon to travel in Ukraine.

Modi’s engagements in Kyiv will touch on a range of aspects of bilateral ties including political, trade, economic, investments, education, cultural, people-to-people exchanges, humanitarian assistance and others. He will also interact with the Indian community, including students during the visit.

“PM’s landmark visit to Ukraine will help further consolidation and expansion of bilateral ties,” PMO said.

What is ‘Rail Force One’?

Ukrainian Railways or Ukrzaliznytsia, the state-owned operator of Ukraine’s rail network, has been using trains to ferry world leaders including US President Biden, who took the ‘Rail Force One’ overnight train from Przemysl Glowny in Poland to Kyiv when he visited Ukraine in February 2023. Biden spent 20 hours of travelling on trains (both directions).

With air travel not safe in the war-torn Ukraine, the country has been using trains to shuttle world leaders.

Over 200 foreign diplomatic missions have arrived in the country by train so far. World leaders including Canada’s Justin Trudeau, the UK’s Rishi Sunak, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni have all taken the train to Kyiv, according to a report in CNN in February 2023.

“The interiors of Train (Rail) Force One are a sight to behold, rivalling the prestige of its esteemed guest list. It has wood-panelled cabins with everything needed for work and relaxation. Amenities include a spacious table for high-stakes meetings, a plush sofa and a TV mounted on the wall. Comfortable sleeping arrangements are also provided,” according to a report in NDTV.

Built in 2014, these luxury carriages were for tourists visiting Crimea. However, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they were repurposed to safely transport world leaders and VIPs through the war-torn country, it added.

‘Iron Diplomacy’ train programme

Ukraine has named its programme to ferry world leaders on trains as “Iron Diplomacy. Ukraine has a rail network of over 25,000 kilometres and one of the largest in the world.

“Our role is simple: our Iron Diplomacy programme safely brings leaders and diplomats in and out. And we have carried more than 300 official delegations successfully. And that’s important for us. That includes President Biden. That was a story to remember,” Oleksandr Kamyshin, CEO of Ukrzaliznytsia, told Parliament magazine in April 2023.

He also said that even during war, Ukrainian Railways did not cancel a single train. “We say that to be brave like Ukrainians is to be ‘like iron’, like the railways… It was an iron year. The whole country and world saw that we are real iron people. And that we will stand. Our resilience was apparent from day one. Everyone knows that whatever happens in the city, if they want, they can come to the station and always travel; we’ve never cancelled a single train. Never,” he added.