New Delhi: When Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves Poland for Ukraine later this week, he will be following in the footsteps of other world leaders like US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron by boarding a train in southeastern Poland that will take him on a 10-hour overnight journey to Kyiv, media reports suggest.
Dubbed Rail Force One, part of a programme called Iron Diplomacy, it is a special train service operated by the Ukrainian state railway company, Ukrzaliznytsia. The train allows world leaders to show their solidarity with Ukraine by making direct visits to Kyiv, despite the challenges posed by the Russian invasion.
If reports about Modi’s mode of travel from Poland to Kyiv are to go by, to board the train, he will have to fly down to Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport from Poland’s capital Warsaw. Rzeszow is the largest city in southeastern Poland. It is the capital of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship and the seat of Rzeszow County. From the airport, Modi will be transferred to the Przemysl Glowny railway station where he will board Rail Force One.
What is special about Rail Force One?
The carriages of Rail Force One feature plush seating, often upholstered in high-quality materials, with spacious layouts to accommodate the needs of dignitaries and their entourages. There are conference rooms and meeting spaces, reports suggest about the highly secretive train service.
Security is the top priority for Rail Force One. The train is heavily guarded, with security personnel on board and along the route. The exact schedule and timings of the train are kept confidential until after the journey is completed, minimising the risk of any targeted attacks. The railway lines used by Rail Force One are carefully monitored and maintained to ensure the safety of the passengers, with security measures including regular patrols, surveillance, and coordination with military forces.
According to Oleksandr Kamyshin, former head of Ukrzaliznytsia and the brain behind Rail Force One, security is everything when it comes to operating this service.
“We have not had one leak,” The Guardian quoted Kamyshin as saying in an interview following US President Biden’s surprise travel to Kyiv on this train in February last year. “There have been no photographs from train attendants. We respect the confidence of the delegations.”
He said that the challenge is to treat the delegations properly because, “like Biden, they spend more time on the train than they do in Kyiv”.
“He (Biden) spent 20 hours on the train and four hours in Kyiv,” Kamyshin said. “Everyone knows Ukrainians are brave. We also want them to know that we are welcoming.”
From the Polish border town of Przemysl, the train then travels southeast through the Ukrainian countryside to Kyiv, covering a distance of about 700 km. The journey typically takes around 10 hours. If Modi takes this route as reports suggest, he will spend 20 hours travelling to and from Kyiv while spending only seven hours in the Ukrainian capital as part of his official visit, a first by an Indian prime minister in 30 years after diplomatic relations were established between India and Ukraine.
What is Iron Diplomacy?
Rail Force One is part of a programme called Iron Diplomacy, a term coined by Kamyshin who is now Ukraine’s Minister of Strategic Industries. It refers to the practice of transporting world leaders from Poland through Ukraine via rail since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Ukraine’s railway network, one of the largest in Europe, has always been a vital part of the country's infrastructure. Before the war, it facilitated the movement of millions of passengers and significant amounts of freight across the country and beyond. However, with the onset of the Russian invasion in February 2022, the railway system’s role transformed from being a routine transportation network into a strategic asset of national importance.
As the rail system is crucial in Ukraine’s resistance to the invasion, Ukrzaliznytsia has continued to run despite repeated attacks against the system such as the attack on Kramatorsk station on April 8, 2022, that claimed the lives of 63 civilians and wounded 150 others.
The railway system has been vital for the Ukrainian military, enabling the transportation of troops, military equipment, and supplies across the country. The ability to move large quantities of goods quickly and efficiently has been a critical factor in Ukraine’s defence strategy.
The concept of Iron Diplomacy extends beyond logistics to encompass the role of the railway in international relations. As air travel became impossible due to the war, the railway network emerged as the primary means for world leaders to visit Ukraine. These visits, facilitated by Ukrzaliznytsia, have been pivotal in maintaining international support for Ukraine.
The Iron Diplomacy programme also serves as a reminder to the Ukrainian people that, despite the war with Russia, Ukraine remains connected to the world.
Will Modi be the first Indian prime minister to travel by train while on a visit abroad?
No. In fact, Modi himself had travelled by train from Zurich to Davos in Switzerland in January 2018 to attend the World Economic Forum. The journey was about two hours long and took Modi through the scenic Swiss Alps.
Then again, in October 2018, during his visit to Japan, Modi, along with then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, took a ride on the Shinkansen, Japan's famed bullet train, from Tokyo to Yamanashi. This train journey was particularly significant as it underscored the partnership between India and Japan in developing India’s own bullet train project.
India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had also travelled by train from London to Oxford while visiting the UK in 1948.
In 1966, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi travelled by train from Moscow to other parts of the then Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), including Leningrad (now St Petersburg). It was an opportunity for her to witness the industrial and agricultural developments of the Soviet Union, which were of particular interest to India during its own industrialisation efforts.
During his visit to the Soviet Union in 1985, then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi also travelled by train from Moscow to Leningrad.
During his historic visit to China in 2003, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee travelled by train from Beijing to Shanghai. It allowed Vajpayee to experience China’s rapidly developing infrastructure and the importance of connectivity.
However, if Modi takes Rail Force One from Poland to Ukraine, it will be the first time that an Indian prime minister will be travelling by train from one country to another.
