Purpose. The need for technological modernization of the railway industry in Ukraine, creation of favorable conditions for investment and introduction of innovations in the industry require significant financial resources. The purpose of the article is investigation of possible sources of attracting financial resources necessary for development of Ukrainian railway transport, in particular, during further organizational arrangements and procedures for the railway industry corporatization to search for ways to optimize them. Methodology. During research the methods of comparison, scientific search, analysis and synthesis were used to study the existing sources of financing for corporations abroad and at Ukrainian enterprises. Findings. Analysis of the existing and search for more efficient sources of financial resources necessary for financing Ukrainian railway transport modernization in the process of the railway industry corporatization is carried out. The growth of the financial results share in the amount of internal own resources is achieved by taking measures to increase profits. A significant part of the economic activities financing can be provided by issuing corporate bonds with the presence of positive effect of the financial leverage. Accounting of the financial leverage effect is an efficient tool for optimizing the structure of the share capital and determining the expediency of loan resources. In the process of corporatization, PJSC «Ukrzaliznytsia» should create an efficient system of financial resources that fully takes into account the specifics of its activities, motivates to increase labor productivity with the ultimate purpose of ensuring the external competitiveness of the Ukrainian railway industry. Originality. Based on the study of scientific and methodological sources, as well as the analysis of sources for financing the economic activities of railway transport, the ways of their optimization are proposed. Practical value. Introduction of the proposed approaches will make it possible to justify the economic feasibility and proportionality of internal and external sources of the railway transport financing under the conditions of corporatization.