A lot more shippers have used electronic transportation documents in Russia since the beginning of this month. Of all documents, 75 per cent was processed electronically. This was reported by Russian Railways. The state-owned company called it an important development considering the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the beginning of March 2020, more than 4.5 million electronic transportation documents have been processed. In February, 298 shippers had signed up for the digitalisation of their transport documents. Since the beginning of March, 352 more clients have taken advantage of this service, Russian Railways said.

15,000 waybills

“Over the past week, Russian Railways’ clients have remotely processed nearly 15,000 electronic waybills, without making any contact with other shippers or railway workers. This is particularly important during the severe COVID-19 pandemic.

“Russian Railways is constantly improving digital services to increase accessibility, transparency, and comfort for all of its railway customers. Today, its contactless digital environment ensures comfortable conditions for interacting with customers”, the company added.

Systems in place

Russian Railways automated systems (ETRAN) makes it possible to prepare and execute documents using electronic signatures without physically visiting the company in its offices. In addition, the electronic trading platform ‘Freight Transportation’ allows customers to place orders for shipping cargo, as well as other transport and related services, online.

To take full advantage of online ordering, processing, and paying for rail freight transport, Russian Railways has launched the Unified Document Processing Center.