No matter how much market participants may wish otherwise, the carrying capacity of railway infrastructure is finite. Expanding it requires significant investment and long implementation timelines. The construction of new lines, development of hubs, and modernization of stations and locomotive facilities take years rather than months.

At the same time, freight flows can shift rapidly due to sanctions, commodity market conditions, and logistics reconfigurations. Routes that operated under normal conditions yesterday may suddenly become congested. As a result, the allocation of limited capacity is becoming a key issue for the entire transport system.

In this context, there is growing discussion about the need to further develop the model for regulating access to infrastructure. This includes creating a mechanism that combines economically justified prioritization of shipments, long-term planning based on dialogue between the operator and shippers, incentives for more even network utilization, and increased responsibility of the parties for declared shipments under a “ship-or-pay” principle.

The integrated application of these tools across the Russian railway network could address several challenges simultaneously: improving the efficiency of existing capacity utilization, reducing risks for carriers associated with unfulfilled cargo volumes, providing shippers with guarantees for their logistics plans, and ensuring returns on investment in new infrastructure.

The full text is available on the Kommersant website.