Russian Railways (russian: link=no, ОАО «Российские железные дороги» (ОАО «РЖД»), OAO Rossiyskie zheleznye dorogi (OAO RZhD)) is a Russian fully
state-owned
State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownersh ...
vertically integrated
In microeconomics, management and international political economy, vertical integration is a term that describes the arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is integrated and owned by that company. Usually each member of the supply ...
railway company
A railway company is a company within the rail industry. It can be a manufacturing firm or an operator. Some railway companies operate both the trains and the track, while, particularly in the European Union, operation of the track is undertaken ...
, both managing infrastructure and operating freight and passenger train services.
The company was established on 18 September 2003, when a decree was passed to separate the upkeep and operation of the railways from the .
RZhD is based in Moscow at Novaya Basmannaya str., 2. The operating units of the central part of the staff are at Kalanchevskaya str., 35.
Railways in
Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
are controlled by
Crimea Railway
The Crimea Railway (russian: link=no, Крымская железная дорога, Krimskaya Zheleznaya Doroga) is a railroad located in Crimea, providing passenger and freight services to Sevastopol and the Republic of Crimea.
Crimea Railwa ...
, a separate company.
History
Background and 2003 reform
![Former RZD logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Former_RZD_logo.jpg)
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian Federation inherited 17 of the 32 regions of the former
Soviet Railways
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
(SZD).
By 1998, total freight traffic was half the 1991 figure.
Government investment in the railway system was greatly curtailed, and passenger fares were no longer subsidized.
Though increasingly inefficient, the Russian railway system avoided major reform into the 1990s.
A Structural Reform Program, focused on restructuring the railway sector within 10 years, was ultimately approved in 2001.
In 2003, the Federal Law on Railway Transport divided the Ministry of Railways into the Federal Railway Transport Agency (FRTA) and Russian Railways (RZD).
The reform also required RZD to provide access to railway infrastructure to other carriers and operators.
As the law requires carriers to provide service to customers anywhere in Russia, RZD retained its dominant position.
Later in 2003, the Decree No. 585 established RZD as a joint stock company, making it a holding in charge of 63 subsidiaries, including
TransContainer
TransContainer () is an intermodal freight transport company based in Russia. It was founded as a subsidiary of RZD.
It is Russia's main intermodal container transport and integrated logistics company; it transports over a million TEUs per year. ...
, RailTranAuto, Rail Passenger Directorate, Russian Troika, TransGroup, and Refservis.
RZD acquired 987 companies (95% in asset value) out of the 2046 that had formed the MR system. Gennady Fadeyev, the Railways Minister, became the company's first president.
The reform saw the creation of a new market segment following the privatization of the network's rolling stock. The company divided the bulk of its wagon fleet between two new operating companies,
Freight One
The Freight One (russian: Первая грузовая компания) is the largest privately owned high-tech company rendering freight logistics services in Russia and abroad. The company is the part of Fletcher Group Holdings Limited. Freigh ...
(which was later privatised) and
Freight Two (renamed Federal Freight in 2012), and private players such as GlobalTrans also entering the market.
2000s
![Platz-karte car rzd new style](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Platz-karte_car_rzd_new_style.jpg)
In 2003, RZD launched a project to replace the
narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
on
Sakhalin Railway
Sakhalin Railway (russian: Сахалинская железная дорога) is one of the railway division under Far Eastern Railway that primarily serves in Sakhalin Island. Due to its island location, the railway becomes the second isolated ...
to the
broad gauge
A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways.
Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...
used in the rest of Russia, which it formally completed in August 2019. The share of privately owned wagons in the freight transport increased to one-third of the total by 2005.
On 18 May 2006, the company signed an agreement with
Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
for the delivery of eight high-speed trains.
On 23 May 2007, Russian Railways adopted a new corporate style which changed fundamentally the way the Company presented itself visually to the outside world. The change of corporate identity underwent several stages during the 2007–2010 period. The final version of the logo was designed by
BBDO
BBDO is a worldwide advertising agency network, with its headquarters in New York City. The agency originated in 1891 with the George Batten Company, and in 1928, through a merger with Barton, Durstine & Osborn (BDO), the agency became Batten, B ...
Branding.
Also, commissioned by
BBDO
BBDO is a worldwide advertising agency network, with its headquarters in New York City. The agency originated in 1891 with the George Batten Company, and in 1928, through a merger with Barton, Durstine & Osborn (BDO), the agency became Batten, B ...
Branding The Agency HardCase Design created a family of corporate fonts RussianRail, consisting of 15 fonts. In the new company logo
Sans-serif
In typography and lettering, a sans-serif, sans serif, gothic, or simply sans letterform is one that does not have extending features called "serifs" at the end of strokes. Sans-serif typefaces tend to have less stroke width variation than seri ...
RussianRail Grotesque Medium was used. In 2008, the new logo of Russian Railways became a runner-up for the international design competition WOLDA '08 award.
Strategy 2030, an investment plan to expand and modernize the railway network, was approved by the Russian government in 2008. Since 2008, as part of the structural reform of rail transport, with separation of the services infrastructure of transportation activity and the emergence of a competitive environment, Russian Railways has been transformed into a vertically oriented holding company.
In 2009, the investment budget was 262.8 billion rubles (excluding VAT), of which 47.4 billion for projects related to the preparation and staging of the Olympic Games in Sochi; 58.7 billion for the renovation of the rolling stock (including supply of ''
Sapsan
The ''Sapsan'' (russian: Сапсан, lit=Peregrine Falcon
The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird o ...
'' trains).
2010s
![2005-2010 modernization program of Russian Railways](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/2005-2010_modernization_program_of_Russian_Railways.jpg)
In 2010, Federal Passenger Company was established as a fully owned subsidiary of Russian Railways, providing long-distance passenger services both in Russia and abroad.
By the end of 2013, it operated all long-distance routes, except for high-speed ''Sapsan'' lines, which are operated by RZD.
![Плащкарт](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/%D0%9F%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%89%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%82.jpg)
RZD issued its first dollar-denominated
bond
Bond or bonds may refer to:
Common meanings
* Bond (finance), a type of debt security
* Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States
* Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemical ...
in 2010, raising $1.5 billion. On 28 October 2011, the Joint Stock Company
Freight One
The Freight One (russian: Первая грузовая компания) is the largest privately owned high-tech company rendering freight logistics services in Russia and abroad. The company is the part of Fletcher Group Holdings Limited. Freigh ...
, a subsidiary of Russian Railways, sold 75% of its shares minus two shares for 125.5 billion rubles (about 4 billion $) to Independent Transport Company owned by
Vladimir Lisin
Vladimir Sergeyevich Lisin (born 7 May 1956) is a Russian billionaire businessman. He is the chairman and majority shareholder of Novolipetsk (NLMK), one of the four largest steel companies in Russia.
According to ''Bloomberg Billionaires Index ...
.
Thus, Lisin as Russia's largest operator of rolling stock acquired control of a quarter of the freight market.
As part of its reform efforts, RZD massively reduced its workforce, from 2.2 million in the 1990s to 934,000 people in 2012.
In 2012, it became one of the three largest transport companies in the world.
According to a
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was estab ...
inquiry, RZD procurement activities in 2012 amounted to $22.5 billion; part of this was awarded to private contractors with no genuine operations in de facto noncompetitive tenders.
Some of the company addresses listed on the tenders turned out to be private apartments, car repair shops or department stores.
It was alleged that the contractors were actually
shell companies
A shell corporation is a company or corporation that exists only on paper and has no office and no employees, but may have a bank account or may hold passive investments or be the registered owner of assets, such as intellectual property, or s ...
, used to convey billions of dollars in tenders to close associates of Yakunin, president of RZD.
Zheldoripoteka, RZD's real estate arm, was revealed to have sold land plots located close to railway stations in major cities to the son of Russian Railways president Vladimir Yakunin.
Far East Land Bridge, a company partnered with a Russian Railways subsidiary, was also linked to Yakunin's son.
On 16 October 2012, Russian Railways has completed competitive negotiations with potential buyers of the remaining 25-percent plus 1 share stake in JSC
Freight One
The Freight One (russian: Первая грузовая компания) is the largest privately owned high-tech company rendering freight logistics services in Russia and abroad. The company is the part of Fletcher Group Holdings Limited. Freigh ...
. The best binding offer was received from the Independent Transport Company LLC. The assets were sold for 50 billion rubles.
In early November 2012, Russian Railways announced the purchase of 75% of the French logistics company Gefco SA. The total value of the transaction was 800 million euros, the seller being
PSA Peugeot Citroen
The PSA Group (), legally known as Peugeot S.A. (Peugeot Société Anonyme, trading as Groupe PSA; formerly known as PSA Peugeot Citroën from 1991 to 2016) was a French multinational automotive manufacturing company which produced automobiles ...
, the parent company of Gefco. A program to modernize the
Baikal–Amur Mainline
The Baikal–Amur Mainline (russian: Байкало-Амурская магистраль, , , ) is a broad-gauge railway line in Russia. Traversing Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East, the -long BAM runs about 610 to 770 km (380 to 4 ...
was launched in 2013, costing the equivalent of £4 billion by 2018.
In 2015, RZD International won a €1.2 billion contract to electrify the Garmsar–Inche Bourun line in Iran.
In August 2015, company president
Vladimir Yakunin
Vladimir Ivanovich Yakunin (russian: Владимир Иванович Якунин; born 30 June 1948) is a Russian businessman and close Vladimir Putin confidant. He was president of Russian Railways from June 2005 to August 2015.
In March 2 ...
was dismissed,
allegedly because of poor performance and mismanagement. Yakunin was replaced by
Oleg Belozyorov
Oleg Valentinovich Belozyorov (Russian: Олег Валентинович Белозёров; born on 26 September 1969), is a Latvian-born Russian politician and manager. He is serving as president of Russian Railways since August 20, 2015.
He ...
.
RZD International began works on the reconstruction of the Serbian Vinarci – Djordjevo line in 2016. The
Moscow Central Circle
The Moscow Central Circle or MCC (russian: Московское центральное кольцо, МЦК), designated Line 14 and marked in a strawberry red/white color is a orbital urban/metropolitan rail line that encircles historical M ...
railway, designed and managed by
Roszheldorproject
JSC Roszheldorproject is a Russian company which carries out design and survey works for construction, overhaul and renovation projects in railway, industrial, social and cultural spheres, for construction and renovation of commercial property and ...
, an RZD subsidiary, opened in September 2016. In July 2018, the company announced plans to phase out third-class carriages on long-distance trains by 2025.
2020s
On 24 February 2022, in response to Russia's
invasion of Ukraine
The territory of present-day Ukraine has been Invasion, invaded or Military occupation, occupied a number of times throughout History of Ukraine, its history.
List
See also
*List of invasions
*List of wars involving Ukraine
References
...
, US President
Joe Biden announced
economic sanctions
Economic sanctions are commercial and financial penalties applied by one or more countries against a targeted self-governing state, group, or individual. Economic sanctions are not necessarily imposed because of economic circumstances—they may ...
against several Russian companies, including Russian Railways.
On 8 April 2022, the shipping company
CMA CGM
CMA CGM S.A. is a French container transportation and shipping company. It is the world’s 3rd largest container shipping company, using 257 shipping routes between 420 ports in 160 countries. Its headquarters are in Marseille, France The name ...
announced to be acquiring the French logistics company Gefco SA from Russian Railways and minority shareholder
Stellantis
Stellantis N.V. is a multinational automotive manufacturing corporation formed in 2021 on the basis of a 50–50 cross-border merger between the Italian-American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the French PSA Group. The comp ...
.
On 11 April 2022, the
''Wall Street Journal'' and
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was estab ...
reported that the
International Swaps and Derivatives Association
International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations".
International may also refer to:
Music Albums
* ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011
* ''International'' (New Order album), 2002
* ''International'' (The T ...
had determined a "failure to pay" credit event occurred on 250 million CHF worth of Swiss franc loan participation notes linked to an entity related to Russian Railways, RZD Capital. The determination is considered the first step to triggering a
credit default swap
A credit default swap (CDS) is a financial swap agreement that the seller of the CDS will compensate the buyer in the event of a debt default (by the debtor) or other credit event. That is, the seller of the CDS insures the buyer against som ...
.
Future projects
Planned projects
In March 2016, RZD approved an updated version of high-speed rail development program until 2030. The 5 trillion ruble program includes the construction of Moscow–Kazan–Yekaterinburg, Moscow–Adler and Moscow–Saint Petersburg high-speed lines, as well as other high-speed lines connecting regional cities.
[ ]
The construction program is divided into three stages. Until 2020 Russian Railways plans to put into operation the high-speed rail sections linking
Moscow–Kazan (1.2 trillion rubles), Moscow–Tula (268.6 billion rubles), Chelyabinsk–Yekaterinburg (122.6 billion rubles), Tula–Belgorod (86.8 billion rubles), Yekaterinburg–Nizhny Tagil (12.9 billion rubles) and Novosibirsk–Barnaul (62.3 billion rubles). The project design of the largest container port in
Ust-Luga
Ust-Luga (russian: Усть-Луга, lit. ''mouth of the Luga'', Votian: ''Laugasuu'', lit. ''mouth of the Luga'', fi, Laukaansuu) is a settlement and railway station in Kingiseppsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, near the Estonian border ...
for reception and distribution of containerized freight on China–Europe route is also part of the program.
Between 2021 and 2025 RZD plans to build Rostov–Krasnodar–Adler, Tula–Voronezh high-speed rail and the extension of Kazan-Yelabuga high-speed rail, as well as other regional high-speed rail links.
During the 2026–2030 third phase of the program, Russian Railways will build Moscow–Saint Petersburg high-speed rail section; the railway line will be extended from Yelabuga to Yekaterinburg, and from Voronezh to Rostov-on-Don.
Proposed projects
In March 2015, at a meeting of the Russian Academy of Science, Vladimir Yakunin presented an ambitious new transport route called the
Trans-Eurasian Belt Development (TEPR) which would go "through Russia with a mega road and high-speed rail network to link Asia with Europe' and with the opportunity to go to Chukotka and Bering Strait and then to the American continent"
to Alaska, "making overland trips from Britain to the US (via the Channel Tunnel) a possibility."
Owners and management
![V](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/V.I._Yakunin%2C_President_of_Russian_Railways_in_2010.jpg)
The Russian Federation is the founder and sole shareholder of JSC Russian Railways. On behalf of its shareholders the powers are exercised by the
Government of the Russian Federation
The Government of Russia exercises executive power in the Russia, Russian Federation. The members of the government are the Prime Minister of Russia, prime minister, the Deputy Chairman of the Government, deputy prime ministers, and the federa ...
. It approves the president of the company, forms the board of directors annually and approves the annual reports.
An IPO for the company was considered in 2012, but it was pushed back to after 2020.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of JSC Russian Railways is Oleg Belozerov. Before him, the position was occupied by
Kirill Androsov
Kirill Androsov Ph.D (born June 1972) is a Russian businessman, economist, and investor.
Androsov is a former Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation and Deputy Chief of Staff of the Office of ...
from September 2011 till June 2015., and previously by
Alexander Zhukov
Alexander Dmitriyevich Zhukov (russian: Александр Дмитриевич Жуков; born 1 June 1956) is a Russian economist and politician. Zhukov was a member of the State Duma from 1994 to 2004. He is the First Deputy Chairman of t ...
– from 20 July 2004 to September 2011 and
Viktor Khristenko
Viktor Borisovich Khristenko (russian: Виктор Борисович Христенко; born 28 August 1957) is a Russian politician who was chairman of the board of the Eurasian Economic Commission from 1 February 2012 to 1 February 2016. He ...
– from 16 October 2003 – 20 July 2004.
Gennady Fadeev was President of JSC Russian Railways from 23 September 2003 – 14 June 2005. He was succeeded by
Vladimir Yakunin
Vladimir Ivanovich Yakunin (russian: Владимир Иванович Якунин; born 30 June 1948) is a Russian businessman and close Vladimir Putin confidant. He was president of Russian Railways from June 2005 to August 2015.
In March 2 ...
– from 14 June 2005 to 20 August 2015.
Oleg Belozyorov
Oleg Valentinovich Belozyorov (Russian: Олег Валентинович Белозёров; born on 26 September 1969), is a Latvian-born Russian politician and manager. He is serving as president of Russian Railways since August 20, 2015.
He ...
has been president of the company since 20 August 2015.
Subsidiaries
As of December 2013, Russian Railways has controlling interests in the following companies:
* Federal Passenger Company (100%);
* Gefco S.A. (75%);
*
Federal Freight
The Federal Freight (russian: Федеральная грузовая компания) is a railway business established in Russia by Russian Railways
Russian Railways (russian: link=no, ОАО «Российские железные дор ...
(100%);
*
TransContainer
TransContainer () is an intermodal freight transport company based in Russia. It was founded as a subsidiary of RZD.
It is Russia's main intermodal container transport and integrated logistics company; it transports over a million TEUs per year. ...
(50.6%);
* Refservice (100%);
* RailTransAuto (51%);
* High-speed Rail Lines (100%);
* RZDstroy (100%);
*
Roszheldorproject
JSC Roszheldorproject is a Russian company which carries out design and survey works for construction, overhaul and renovation projects in railway, industrial, social and cultural spheres, for construction and renovation of commercial property and ...
(55.56%);
* RZD Trading Company (50% + 1)
* TransTeleCom (100%);
* Zhilsotsipoteka (100%);
* Zheldoripoteka (100%);
* TransWoodService (100%);
* BetElTrans (100%);
* First Nonmetallic Company (100%);
* Zeleznodorozhnaya Torgovaya Kompaniya (100%);
* Wagon Repair Company – 1 (100%);
* Wagon Repair Company – 2 (100%);
* Wagon Repair Company – 3 (100%);
* Kaluga Plant Remputmash (100%);
* Incorporated Electrotechnical Plants (50 + 1).
Activities
![RZD personnel during a visit to a maintenance depot at the Moscow-Kievskaya railway station](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/RZD_personnel_during_a_visit_to_a_maintenance_depot_at_the_Moscow-Kievskaya_railway_station.jpg)
The main activities of Russian Railways involve freight and passenger traffic. In Russia, railways carry 42% of the total cargo traffic, and about 33% of passenger traffic.
Some passenger categories, such as pensioners, members of parliament, and holders of Soviet and Russian state decorations, receive free or subsidized tickets.
Freight traffic
In 2013 railways carried nearly 90% of Russia's freight, excluding pipelines.
In 2014, railway infrastructure and locomotive services accounted for 74% of the company's total revenue.
The cost of freight tariff is determined by the Federal Tariff Service at net cost or higher.
Long-distance travel
Russian Railways has a near-monopoly on long-distance train travel, with its subsidiary, Federal Passenger Company, accounting for 90% of total passenger turnover in 2017.
Passenger transportation accounted for 10.6% of the company's revenue in 2017. The long-distance passenger fleet includes 19,386 rail cars as of 2017, with an average age of 19.1 years.
Over 60% of long-distance passengers travel in third-class sleeping carriages.
The long-distance rail passenger business is under increasing competition from airlines, due to their aggressive domestic pricing policies and generally shorter travel times for routes under 1,000 km.
International rail passenger traffic dropped from 19.4 million passengers in 2013 to 6.8 million in 2017.
In 2005–2010, JSC Russian Railways has launched a program to introduce new high-speed trains. The first train, ''
Sapsan
The ''Sapsan'' (russian: Сапсан, lit=Peregrine Falcon
The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird o ...
'', commenced service in December 2009 and connects
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
,
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
and
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...
and is operated with trains manufactured by the German company Siemens.
The second train, ''
Allegro
Allegro may refer to:
Common meanings
* Allegro (music), a tempo marking indicate to play fast, quickly and bright
* Allegro (ballet), brisk and lively movement
Artistic works
* L'Allegro (1645), a poem by John Milton
* ''Allegro'' (Satie), an ...
'', has run from Saint Petersburg to
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
via
Vyborg
Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus ne ...
since December 2010 and is owned and operated together with the Finnish
VR Group
VR-Group Plc ( fi, VR-Yhtymä Oyj, sv, VR-Group Abp), commonly known as VR, is a government-owned railway company in Finland. VR's most important function is the operation of Finland's passenger rail services with 250 long-distance and 800 co ...
.
''Sapsan'' was the most successful passenger train of JSC Russian Railways with occupancy rate of 84.5% (according to RZD in 2010) and
profitability
In economics, profit is the difference between the revenue that an economic entity has received from its outputs and the total cost of its inputs. It is equal to total revenue minus total cost, including both explicit and implicit costs.
It i ...
of 30% (although capital costs were not included in its calculation).
Fares on long distance trains
![Allegro train ticket](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Allegro_train_ticket.JPG)
Passenger tariffs (except for travelling in the stateroom,
sleeping
Sleep is a sedentary state of mind and body. It is characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefulness by a de ...
and VIP-cars) are approved by the State, represented by the Federal Tariff Service with social orientation of its traffic operations below cost. Passenger fare is divided into two components: «ticket» (which includes the cost of transport infrastructure, locomotive traction and the Station component) and «reserved seat» (service of transport company, which is the owner of the car). Since 2003, the flexible schedule tariffs (FST) to travel on long-distance trains is used:
*in the period of keen demand the rate is above the annual average by 5–20% (earlier it was up to +45%)
*approximately the third part of the year the base rate is active
*during the periods of low passenger's traffic the rate is lower by 5–20%. On certain days of the year (from 1 to 3 days, at different times on such days as 31.12, 01.01 and dates around 9 May) the index of 45–50% is valid when tickets are twice cheaper.
FST is calculated in such a way as to stimulate passengers to undertake a trip on the date with the lowest index. In 2010 and 2011, the average weighted index for calendar periods was 0.97 and the average volume of passenger traffic – 1.00.
According to the JSC Russian Railways statement, the passenger transportation – except for some highly profitable directions – is unprofitable. These losses are partly compensated from the budget, and for the most part – with the help of cross-subsidies by income from freight.
Suburban passenger companies
Since 2009, the company is not a direct carrier of suburban passengers. Suburban transport is now operated by passenger companies founded by the executive agencies of the
Russian Federation
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, Russian Railways and private investors.
As of 2016, there are 25 suburban passenger companies (SPC), and Russian Railways owns a majority stake in 19 of them.
Especially for the SPC a zero tariff for the use of railway infrastructure was introduced. Russian Railways receives 25 billion rubles subsidies as compensation annually from the State.
Commuter traffic in the whole network increased in 2011 on 5.6% and is about 878.33 million people.
Passenger turnover rail in the Russian regions ranges from 5% to 30% in total passenger traffic.
Sponsorship
Since its establishment in 2003, Russian Railways sponsoring
FC Lokomotiv Moscow
FC Lokomotiv Moscow (''FC Lokomotiv Moskva'', russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб "Локомотив" Москва, ) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three oc ...
in the
Russian Premier League
The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...
.
Since February 2016 Russian Railways is the sponsor of
Rodina Kirov
Rodina (russian: Родина) is a bandy club from Kirov, Russia whose team plays in the Russian Bandy Super League. It was founded in 1934. The club colours are white and blue.
The team was originally called Kutsho Factory Team and starting w ...
, a
bandy
Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...
team in the
Russian Bandy Super League
The Russian Bandy Super League (russian: Чемпионат России по хоккею с мячом — Суперлига), is a men's professional bandy league in Russia, the top division of Russian bandy.
There is no definite rule which ...
.
Assets
Infrastructure
As of 31 December 2009, the total operational length of railway is 85 281 km, including the
track gauge
In rail transport, track gauge (in American English, alternatively track gage) is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many d ...
of – 84 446 km, the length of continuous welded rails 74.4 thousand km, the railway network operated by 166 975 switches, 138 tunnels and 30,727 bridges.
The length of lines equipped with automatic block (AB) and centralized control, is 62,055 km, or 72.9%. Devices of railway automation and remote control on the Russian railway network served with 203 distance signaling, centralization and blocking and with one technical center of automation and remote control.
The following Railways belong to RZD:
:
*
October Railway
Oktyabrskaya Railway or October Railway (russian: Октябрьская железная дорога) is the subsidiary of RZD, servicing railway lines in the north-west of Russia. It stretches from Moscow's Leningrad Terminal in the south to M ...
– 10,378 km (managed from Saint Petersburg)
*
Kaliningrad Railway
Kaliningrad Railway (russian: link=no, Калининградская железная дорога) is the smallest subsidiary of the Russian Railways by route length (618 km) and differs from other Russian railways in having a string of standard ...
s – 963 km (managed from Kaliningrad)
*
Moscow Railway
Moscow Railway (russian: Московская железная дорога) is a subsidiary of Russian Railways that handles half of Russia's suburban railway operations and a quarter of the country's passenger traffic. As of 2009 the railway, wh ...
– 8,800 km (managed from Moscow)
*
Gorky Railway
The Gorky Railway (Горьковская железная дорога) is a subsidiary of the Russian Railways headquartered in Nizhny Novgorod (formerly known as Gorky, hence the name).
The railway network serves nine federal subjects of the R ...
– 5,297 km (managed from Nizhny Novgorod)
*
Northern Railway – 5,961 km (managed from Yaroslavl)
*
North Caucasus Railway
North Caucasus Railway ( rus, Северо-Кавказская железная дорога) is a broad gauge Russian railway network that links the Sea of Azov (in the west) and Caspian Sea (in the east). It runs through ten federal subjects ...
s – 6,311 km (managed from Rostov-on-Don)
*
South-Eastern Railway – 4,189 km (managed from Voronezh)
*
Privolzhsk Railway – 4,237 km (managed from Saratov)
*
Kuybyshev Railway
The Kuybyshevskaya Railway (Ку́йбышевская желе́зная доро́га) is a subsidiary of the Russian Railways operating in Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Mordovia, Ryazan Oblast, Penza, Tambov, Ulyanovsk, Samara, Orenburg, and C ...
– 4,752 km (managed from Samara)
*
Sverdlovsk Railway
The Sverdlovsk Railway (Свердловская железная дорога) is a subsidiary of the Russian Railways headquartered in Yekaterinburg (formerly known as Sverdlovsk, hence the name).
In 1991 the length of the railway route was . ...
– 7,154 km (managed from Yekaterinburg)
*
South Urals Railway
The Yuzhno–Uralskaya Railway (Южно-Уральская железная дорога; "South Ural Railway") is a subsidiary of the Russian Railways headquartered in Chelyabinsk. It operates the railways in the Orenburg, Chelyabinsk, Kurgan, an ...
s – 4,807 km (managed from Chelyabinsk)
*
West Siberian Railway
West Siberian Railway (russian: Западно-Сибирская железная дорога, Zapadno-Sibirskaya zheleznaya doroga) is a Rail operator of Russian Railways and part of the Great Trans-Siberian Railway crossing the Omsk, Novosibir ...
– 5,558 km (managed from Novosibirsk)
*
Krasnoyarsk Railway
Krasnoyarsk Railway (russian: link=no, Красноярская железная дорога) is a subsidiary of the Russian Railways headquartered in Krasnoyarsk and serving the south of Siberia.
Main information
Its mainline is a link in the ...
s – 3,158 km (managed from Krasnoyarsk)
*
East Siberian Railway
The East Siberian Railway () is a railway in Russia (a branch of the Russian Railways and a part of the Trans-Siberian Railway), which runs across Irkutsk Oblast, Chita Oblast, Buryatia, and Yakutia. The railway administration is located in Irk ...
– 3,876 km (managed from Irkutsk)
*
Zabaikal Railway – 3,336 km (managed from Chita)
*
Far Eastern Railway
Far Eastern Railway (russian: Дальневосточная железная дорога) is a railway in Russia that crosses Primorsky Krai, Khabarovsk Krai, Amur Oblast, Jewish Autonomous Oblast, and Yakutia.
Information
The railway administ ...
– 5,991 km (managed from Khabarovsk)
:
*
Abkhazian Railway: 10-year lease starting from 2009.
*
South Caucasus Railway
South Caucasus Railway ( hy, Հարավկովկասյան երկաթուղի, ՀԿԵ, russian: Южно-Кавказская железная дорога, ЮКЖД) is the sole railway company in Armenia, owned by Russian Railways, responsible ...
: 30-year concession starting 2008.
RZD also manages a 50% share in
Ulaanbaatar Railways on behalf of the Russian government.
Rolling stock
Traction rolling stock includes
diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...
s,
electric locomotive
An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or gas ...
s,
electric trains,
diesel trains
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving wheels ...
,
railcar
A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a drive ...
s,
railway handcar, other self-propelled equipment and non-tractive rolling stock –
different cars (passenger, freight) and a special
rolling stock
The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can b ...
.
The main producer of passenger cars (95%) is
Tver Carriage Works
Tver Carriage Works (russian: Тверской вагоностроительный завод, Tverskoy Vagonostroitelniy Zavod) is a rolling stock manufacturer located in Tver, Russia. The company is part of Transmashholding.
History of the ...
.
At the end of 2012, the rolling stock inventory included 20,618 locomotives, including 2,543 electric passenger locomotives, 578 diesel passenger locomotives, 7,837 electric freight locomotives, 3,556 diesel freight locomotives, 6,104
shunting locomotive
A switcher, shunter, yard pilot, switch engine, yard goat, or shifter is a small railroad locomotive used for manoeuvring railroad cars inside a rail yard in a process known as ''switching'' (US) or ''shunting'' (UK). Switchers are not inten ...
s.
In 2017 RZD purchased 459 locomotives, including four
EP1M, 13 EP2K, 19
TEP70BS and four
EP20
EP, ep, or Ep may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* Extended play, a recording that contains more than a single, but less than a full album
* Electric piano
* Entity Paradigm, a Pakistani rock band
* ''EP'' (The 77s EP), 1999
* ''EP'' (B ...
passenger units, as well as 84 2ES6, 10
2ES10
The 2ES10 is a twin section (Bo'Bo)(Bo'Bo') freight locomotive manufactured from 2010 by Ural Locomotives. RZD ordered 221 units in 2010. Ukrainian Railways ordered 50 units in 2013.
History and design
The 2ES10 is a two unit 8 axle electric fre ...
, 51 2ES5K, 45 3ES5K, four 3ES4K, 86 2TE25KM, and five 4ES5K freight units.
In 2013, the RZD holding owned 252,900 freight cars, including 54,200 owned directly by Russian Railways, with the rest owned by company subsidiaries and affiliates, such as
Federal Freight
The Federal Freight (russian: Федеральная грузовая компания) is a railway business established in Russia by Russian Railways
Russian Railways (russian: link=no, ОАО «Российские железные дор ...
and
TransContainer
TransContainer () is an intermodal freight transport company based in Russia. It was founded as a subsidiary of RZD.
It is Russia's main intermodal container transport and integrated logistics company; it transports over a million TEUs per year. ...
.
Performance indicators
Annually JSC Russian Railways carries over 1 billion passengers and 1 billion tons of freight.
In 2011, freight traffic of Russian Railways totaled about 1.4 billion tons. Passenger traffic for the year 2011 reached 992.4 million people.
The average salary on the network in October 2011 – 31 thousand rubles a month. Loading volume for the year 2012 amounted to 1 billion 274.7 million tons (+2.7% compared to 2011), the share in the total turnover of the country (except pipelines) — 85.5%. In 2012, the network carried 1 bln 56.7 million passengers (+6.4% compared to 2011). Net income from the basic activities using
Russian GAAP
Russian Accounting Standards (RAS; russian: Российские стандарты бухгалтерского учёта, РСБУ), also called Russian Accounting Principles (RAP) or Russian GAAP, refer to the body of regulatory documents conc ...
was in 2012 almost 5.3 billion rubles, which is a decrease compared to 2011 (13.7 billion rubles) of almost 3 times.
In total, Russian Railways receives 112 billion roubles (around US$1.5 billion) annually from the government.
See also
*
Russian Railway Museum
The Russian Railway Museum is situated next to Baltiysky railway station in Saint Petersburg. The museum was established in 1978, its current site and exhibition opened to public on 1 November 2017. The museum utilizes the nineteenth century lo ...
, in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
*
Emperor railway station in Pushkin town
The Emperor's railway station or Emperor's Tsarskoye Selo Station, known as the Emperor's Pavilion (russian: Императорский павильон, transliteration ''Imperatorsky pavilyon''), is a former railway station terminal in Russia, ...
References
Further reading
* Collins, D. N. "The Franco-Russian Alliance and Russian Railways, 1891–1914." ''Historical Journal'' 16, no. 4 (1973): 777-88
online
* Haywood, Richard M. "The question of a standard gauge for Russian railways, 1836–1860." ''Slavic Review'' 28.1 (1969): 72-8
online
* Starns, Karl Edward McDaniel. "The Russian Railways and Imperial Intersections in the Russian Empire." (Diss. 2013)
online* Westwood, John Norton. ''A history of Russian railways'' (G. Allen and Unwin, 1964).
* Westwood, J. ''Soviet railways to Russian railways'' (Springer, 2001).
In Russian
*Госкомстат СССР (Gov't Statistical Committee ) "Народное хозяйство СССР: статистический ежегодник" (The national economy of the USSR, statistical yearbook),Финансы и статистика, Москва (various years till 1990).
*Госкомстат СССР (Уманский, Л.), "Народное хозяйство СССР за 70 лет: юбилейный статистический ежегодник". Москва, "Финансы и статистика", 1987.
*Госкомстат СССР "Транспорт и связь СССР: Статистический сборник" (USSR Transportation and Communications: statistics). Москва. 1990 (and other editions: 1967, 1972, etc.)
*ЖТ = Железнодорожный Транспорт (Railroad Transportation) a monthly magazine published since 1826. The month designation is numeric; e.g. 10-1998 is the November issue.
*Плакс, А.В. & Пупынин, В.Н., "Электрические железные дороги" (Electric Railroads), Москва, "Транспорт", 1993.
*Резер, С.М., "Взаимодействие транспортных систем", Москва, "Наука", 1985.
*Шадур, Л.А. ed., "Вагоны: конструкция, теория и расчёт" (Railroad cars: construction, theory and calculations), Москва, "Транспорт", 1980.
*Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal government statistical service) "Транспорт в России" (Transportation in Russia) (annual
*Филиппов, М.М. (editor), "Железные дороги. Общий курс" (Railroads, General Course) Москва, Транспорт, 3rd ed. 1981. 4th ed. 1991 with new editor: Уздин, М.М.
*Шафиркин, Б.И, "Единая транспортная система СССР и взаимодействие различных видов транспорта" (Unified Transportation System of the USSR and interaction of various modes of transportation), Москва, "Высшая школа", 1983.
*Шадур. Л. А. (ed.), "Вагоны" (Railway cars), Moscow, "Транспорт", 1980.
External links
Russian Railways Official Site
*
Financial Information
{{Authority control
1992 establishments in Russia
Companies based in Moscow
Government-owned companies of Russia
Government-owned railway companies
Railway companies established in 2003
Railway companies of Russia
Russian brands
Russian entities subject to the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions