“We believe we will be able to considerably ramp up the system in the next few weeks, so that we can really succeed in transporting as much (grain) out of Ukraine as the capacity of the railways will allow,” Sigrid Nikutta, the head of Deutsche Bahn’s freight transport division, told public broadcaster ZDF.    

The flow of grain exports from Ukraine, known as Europe’s bread basket, has been disrupted since Russia’s February 24 invasion, threatening food security around the world.   

Shipments across the Black Sea have been blocked both by Russian warships and mines Kyiv has laid to avert a feared amphibious assault.    

While some quantities have been transported via rail and road, exports are still minimal compared to the amount normally exported by sea.    

Germany has been helping to transport grain from Ukraine via rail in an effort dubbed the “Berlin train lift”, an analogy to the Berlin Airlift.    

The Ukrainian government says one to two million tonnes are being exported by land every month, according to Nikutta.    

The cargo is being taken to ports in Poland, Germany and the Netherlands to be shipped, she said.    

However, because of different track gauges in Ukraine and the rest of Europe, the grain must be loaded into new carriages at the Ukrainian border.    

Other issues include a shortage of carriages and facilities for transferring the grain, Nikutta said.    

Russia and Ukraine on Wednesday made substantive progress in their first direct talks since March on a deal to relieve the global food crisis caused by blocked grain exports.    

The high-stakes meeting involving UN and Turkish officials in Istanbul ended with an agreement to meet again in Turkey next week.