New express rail service delivers mail from Saint Petersburg to Kaliningrad
RZD and Russian Mail launched a special mail wagon to deliver parcels and letters from Saint Petersburg to Kaliningrad. Inhabitants of Kaliningrad will receive their mail from Saint Petersburg one and a half times faster...Read more
Russian Railways cargo volumes decreased by 3,8% in 2022
Cargo transportation by the Russian Railways (RZD) decreased by 3,8 per cent over 2022. RZD transported roughly 1,2 billion tons of cargo last year, with a peak in the transport of coal, grain and building...Read more
Paperless customs for a seamless corridor? Kazakhstan shows the way
A paperless Middle Corridor, where trains no longer need to stop for customs procedures. How far is this from reality? In Kazakhstan, the first steps have been taken, says IT developer Networks Energy. From the...Read more
RZD extends international and domestic discounts for 2023
Russian Railways (RZD) is extending to 2023 discounts for the transportation of various goods both internationally and domestically. The list of discounts was posted by RZD on their official Telegram channel.Read more
RZD to open an office in Turkmenistan and vice versa
Russia and Turkmenistan recently signed an MoU concerning the possibility of opening a Russian Railways (RZD) office in Turkmenistan and a Turkmen Railways office in Russia.Read moreRZD to offer discounts on the Moscow-Mumbai corridor
Russian Railways (RZD) will offer a 20 per cent discount for the transportation of containers along the eastern branch of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC). The discount will be valid throughout 2023.Read more
12 million tons of cargo to transit Iran yearly on Moscow-Mumbai route
A new agreement between Russian Railways (RZD) and the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (RAI) will boost the transit volumes between Russia and India via Iran to 12 million tons of cargo per year. The...Read more
RZD launches first regular train Moscow-India
The consecutive pilot services along diverse routes of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) in the past months are finally bearing fruits for the Russian Railways. RZD launched the first regular INSTC container train service...Read more
Aftermath of Kerch bridge: rail freight comes to the rescue, for now
While reparations are being carried out on the road section of the Kerch bridge in Crimea, traffic of goods on the bridge has been moved on the rail. As Russian Railways (RZD) posted on Telegram,...Read more
Estonia wants to sanction RZD, but its rail sector does not agree
In the wake of a new sanction round on Russia by the EU, the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs proposed direct sanctions on Russian Railways, which would mean the complete stoppage of business between Estonian...Read more
FESCO’s volumes grow thanks to eastbound trains
FESCO, the Russian intermodal transport operator, has moved record-setting volumes in the first half of 2022. Numbers have increased for both international and intermodal transport. The company has also registered a minor decrease in TEUs...Read more
Russia-China rail underperforms, RZD in search of alternatives
Russian Railways confirmed their diversification plans for rail freight routes, which the market has seen as unfolding patterns for some months. Sanctions, however, are not the only underlying reason for their approach since, as the...Read more
Russian rail sector moves towards recession this year
The Russian rail and wagon-building sector are getting a hard hit from ongoing military conflict in Ukraine and the ever-tightening sanctions from West, and the situation is gradually deteriorating. This is according to recent statements...Read more
RZD finds alternatives until new Russia-China railway bridge opens
Russian railways launched a new multimodal route a few days ago, crossing the Amur river on the border with China. The service links Chinese hubs with the Russian city of Samara via the Blagoveshchensk-Heihe bridge...Read more
TransContainer looks to South-East Asia: an alternative to the sanctions?
In May, Russian intermodal container operator PJSC TransContainer launched a regular freight service from Hanoi to the Elektrougli station in Moscow via the Zabaikalsk border-crossing point.Read more
Finnish VR Group to discontinue Russian traffic faster than expected
Finnish state-controlled rail company VR Group is racing to terminate transport agreements with customers on the Russian route. The company sped up the gradual phase-out of traffic to and from Russia and started concluding agreements...Read more
Rail freight Finland-Russia: traffic to phase out gradually, private operators affected
Rail freight traffic between Finland and Russia will gradually cease after the existing transport contracts of state-controlled company VR Group end. For now, traffic is still possible. However, in the following months, this will not...Read more
CMA CGM possibly new owner of Russian shares GEFCO
The French logistics service provider Gefco, together with its largest customer, the French-Italian car manufacturer Stellantis (including Peugeot, Fiat, Citroën, Chrysler and Opel), is at the verge of completing a complete takeover of the majority...Read more
In RailFreight Fridays: the rail impact of the war in Ukraine
VIDEORussia has launched several military attacks on Ukraine. In response, the EU has imposed heavy sanctions on Russia. Both will impact traffic on the New Silk Road. This Friday, we discuss what has happened so...Read more