State and growth of container cargo flow in Russian railway transport (during COVID-19 pandemic)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic period in rail freight transportation in Russia is marked by indicators of rapid growth of transit traffic, export and import volumes, the average speed of transportation increase and delivery speed of transit container traffic. The positive dynamics point to the necessity of continuing research in the field of improving the quality of service in this sector of the railway industry.Information materials of transport and logistics companies services were used. The methods and technologies used to improve the quality of service in railway transport were analyzed: reducing the delivery time of goods, increasing the average delivery speed of transit container traffic, identifying the most demanded nomenclature of goods, increasing the total volume of transit container traffic in Russia.Currently, according to the approved Complex Plan of Modernization and Expansion of Mainline Infrastructure, by 2024 the estimated delivery time of transit container transportation across Russia in the West-East direction should be seven days, average delivery speed of transit container traffic should reach 1319 km/day, and the volume of transit container transportation should reach the level of 1656 thousand TEU (Twenty-foot equivalent unit). In this regard, it is necessary to develop a reliable methodology for determining the perspective volumes of container transportation in regular, express and high-speed trains with the identification of the most demanded nomenclature of cargo, taking into account the speed of delivery.