The strategic focus on container freight, set by Russian Railways management more than a decade ago, proved crucial in 2022: the transport system was able to quickly adapt to new logistics chains and ensure a steady flow of imported goods into the country. Industry experts have no doubt that in the long term this market will continue to grow. While containers will reach a significant share of overall freight traffic (15–20%) only by the mid-2030s, analysts emphasize the importance of preparing now for the upcoming changes and new challenges facing railway infrastructure.

Long-term forecasts for the container logistics segment leave little room for doubt: the market is set for steady growth, driven primarily by the increasing share of containerized cargo in the Russian economy. The share of containers in RZD’s overall freight traffic, currently at 4–5%, will steadily rise toward the levels of developed economies, where containers account for 25–40% or more. “The most active growth will naturally be in export and import freight, but containerization will gradually expand into domestic transportation as well,” noted Roman Martyshkin, Deputy Head of the Center for Macroeconomics and International Projects at the Institute for Transport Economics and Development (IEDT).

The full article is available on the Kommersant website.