The Russian railway network appears to be under pressure due to a wagon surplus hindering operations. Russian Railways (RZD) claims that around 220.000 extra wagons stay idle on public tracks and wants to introduce measures to reduce them. However, other carriers and market players share a different opinion, stressing that, in contrast, they are facing wagon shortages and that the newly proposed measures will primarily work for RZD’s interests.
The situation with inactive wagons occupying capacity in RZD’s network is not new. Since the first months after the war in Ukraine started and the first Western sanction packages were imposed on Russia, Russian Railways reported that a surplus of around 150.000 wagons remained inactive, causing ‘operational chaos’.
As the sanctions’ effect magnifies over the Russian economy, so does the impact on rolling stock. According to the Russian business newspaper Kommersant, RZD’s head, Oleg Belozerov, stated that the container surplus has grown since 2022, with 220.000 inactive wagons occupying tracks currently. At the same time, he forecasted that the number could grow to 310.000 wagons by 2035.
Proposed measures against wagon surplus
To tackle the challenging situation, Belozerov proposed three measures. The first targets the movement of empty wagons. According to that, RZD should now be able to transport empty wagons between different terminals and locations. So far, the state monopoly could only move empty wagons on their way out from port terminals.
The second measure concerns the registration process for wagons, which RZD wants to tighten with stricter requirements. Finally, the third measure proposes increased fees for wagons occupying public track capacity.
Industry has a different opinion
Kommersant’s report highlighted that RZD’s perspective is quite different from that of other market players. In fact, companies contradict RZD’s claims, underlying the fact that the reported data and numbers are not confirmed. For example, the Petrochemical Transport Company (NHTC) stated that RZD’s proposed measures “ do not prove a cause-and-effect relationship between the actions of shippers and the occupancy of the infrastructure.”
On the other hand, the Russian Union of Railway Operators (SOZhT) pointed out that the proposed measures will “upset the balance of interests in favour of RZD”. These views are supported by another argument made by the Siberian Coal Energy Company (SUEK), which, contrary to what RZD claims, says that there is no wagon surplus but a shortage instead.
Specifically, SUEK commented that the situation in Russia is quite straining when it comes to gondola wagons. “Until 2035, we could face a shortage of 100.000 such wagons,” said the company, which proposed that “the relevant ministries first form a balance of the whole wagon fleet, draw a concrete conclusion about a possible deficit or surplus, and then consider amendments to the regulatory framework.”