The race against food inflation starts on rusty Soviet railway lines

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on May 24 the EU was working to get what’s stuck in Ukraine to global markets by opening “solidarity lanes” to European ports as well as financing differ- ent modes of transportation.

OVERGROWN with vegetation, the rusted rail tracks running between Reni in Ukraine’s south-west corner to the port of Galati in Romania had been consigned to Soviet-era history long ago. About a quarter of the 20km line is missing.

Yet like other relics of the old eastern bloc network, the route along the Danube River could eventually play a small part in an increasingly large and complex operation to secure vital food shipments.