The Life Track of Volodymyr Yakovchuk, Locomotive Engineer of “Vilia”

The life of Volodymyr Yakovchuk is a track laid by decades of unwavering dedication to one calling. He stood at the origins of the railway direction in Vilia—setting up operations, assembling a team, launching the first locomotives. His son is also a locomotive engineer, continuing his father’s path. And Volodymyr Pavlovych himself, even after serving on the frontline, returned once again to the diesel locomotive. Because his life is constant motion, with no stops along the way.
On Railroad Workers’ Day, we share the story of a man for whom the track is not just a job, but a lifelong journey.

“My cousin was a locomotive engineer,” Volodymyr Pavlovych recalls. “Where I lived, in Myrohoshcha, many people worked in Zdolbuniv—at the depot, on diesel and electric locomotives. I always liked it. Back in school, when we were assigned an essay on who we wanted to become, I wrote that I wanted to be a locomotive engineer. And that’s exactly how it turned out.”

He began his railway path in 1982. He graduated from Zdolbuniv Vocational School No. 2 — a railway technical school that trained assistant locomotive engineers, mechanics, station attendants, and conductors. Later, he completed the Lviv College of Locomotive Engineering. His career started on old diesel locomotives and later shifted to more modern 2M-62 models.

“I’ve spent my whole life on diesel locomotives, working at Ukrzaliznytsia,” he says. “I repaired them, I drove them. We revived locomotives from the ’90s that had been written off for scrap — repaired them, restored them, got them back into service.”

About ten years ago, when the company Vilia decided to create its own locomotive division, it was Volodymyr Pavlovych’s experience that became the foundation on which the service was built from scratch. “Back then the company rented locomotives from sugar and bearing plants. Yevhen Stepanovych set the goal — to have our own locomotive. I traveled across Ukraine searching, inspecting, choosing. Step by step, the company began building its own locomotive fleet.”

It was then that he officially joined Vilia. “I was 55 at the time,” he smiles. “A new stage in life, but in the same beloved profession.” Together with colleagues, he set up the work from zero: coordinating locomotive crews, helping select personnel, handling technical and organizational issues. “I have acquaintances all over Ukraine — Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih, Kyiv. I know all the repair bases, I know whom to contact. Even now we often call each other — looking for parts, consulting.”

“The hardest part was at the beginning,” he recalls. “We acquired locomotives that were already 40 years old. That’s a lot for machinery. And we had no repair base yet. There weren't enough specialists either — in the railway business you can’t manage without experience.”
Despite the difficulties, the work was in full swing: up to 500 railcars were shipped per month. “CAS was coming from the Baltics and Poland, we transported mineral fertilizers from Belarus. At first we reloaded everything at Zvyniachne, and later began unloading CAS at Hnidava as well,” he says.

With each new locomotive, the team grew, and soon the railway logistics division became a separate, powerful department. Today, it is coordinated by Taras Matviiuk, Serhii Chornobuk, and Ivan Palchei. Vilia now operates five locomotives working in various locations — in Lutsk, Lukiv, Zvyniachne, and Derno. “The main thing is to keep the machinery running,” says Volodymyr Pavlovych. “All our locomotives are about forty years old, but they’ll still work. If maintained properly, machinery can serve for a very long time.”

When the full-scale war began, Volodymyr Pavlovych didn’t hesitate — he joined from the very first days. Mobilized on day three, he was assigned to the 14th Separate Mechanized Brigade, 2nd Rifle Battalion. He served for two years — 2022 to 2023. First near Bakhmut and Soledar, then defending the Kharkiv ring road and areas near Kupiansk.

“War is something so heavy that you can't truly describe it,” he says quietly. “And the cold — that’s the worst. In 2022 we lived in forest belts, without shelters. Later volunteers brought equipment, stoves — it got a little easier. But then trench warfare began — artillery duels, constant shelling. We moved to positions only at night.”

Despite the danger, he continued doing what he knew best — working with machinery. “Even back in Volodymyr-Volynskyi, when the battalions were being formed, I was assigned to handle equipment. Because I’ve worked with locomotives and repairs all my life,” he says.
“We had over a hundred vehicles: ZILs, Urals, KamAZ trucks. I received them, repaired them, got them working. On the front we did the same — disassembling engines right in the forest, pulling damaged vehicles off the battlefield. Sometimes we even repaired abandoned equipment — just so it could be used. We evacuated the wounded, saved vehicles from shelling. But the hardest thing — the losses. You can never get used to that.”

In 2024, Volodymyr Pavlovych was demobilized due to age. “I came home, rested for two weeks — and went straight back to work,” he smiles. “I can’t be idle. I need to be among people, in the team.”

Before returning to the locomotive, he had to renew his certifications: he went to the Zdolbuniv depot and passed the exams. After returning from the front, he began working in Lutsk. “While we were still at war, Yevhen Stepanovych came to see us. He said: ‘Volodia, we’ve brought in a new locomotive — it’s waiting for you!’ And indeed, after I returned, I began working on that new locomotive at Hnidava.”

“I’m used to being in motion,” he says. “When a person has nothing to do, they age and get sick. And I still feel good — I handle the workload no worse than the young guys. Sometimes even outperformed them at the front.”
He adds: “If needed — I’d go again tomorrow. Because I’m Ukrainian. It hurts in my soul.”

Volodymyr’s son, Serhii, has also followed in his footsteps and became a locomotive engineer. “I convinced him,” he laughs. “He didn’t want to switch — he was used to mainline locomotives. But I talked him into it. He graduated from the same institute, worked at Ukrzaliznytsia, holds the second engineer class. Now he works at the Lukiv station — he manages three locomotives and handles the Lukiv–Derno directions. We don’t work together, but at home we always talk about locomotives. Even in school he helped me — when I disassembled locomotives, he was always nearby, watching, learning. So now we already have a kind of railway dynasty.”

Over the decades of his work, Volodymyr Pavlovych has seen the railway industry change. But he is convinced: the essence of the profession is not the machinery, but the people. “A person who has worked for years can actually feel the locomotive. It’s like driving a car: the young driver is nervous, but the experienced one knows the vehicle and works calmly. If you stay with one locomotive long enough — it becomes a part of you.”

When speaking about the future of the profession, Volodymyr Pavlovych is calm but resolute:
“Maybe in a hundred years machines will replace people. But for progress to happen, it takes years, technology, and most importantly — heart. Because without people, no locomotive will ever move.”