Russian Railways: Round table discusses freight transport.

A round table took place yesterday at Russian Railways’ subsidiary TransKontainer to discuss issues on freight transport with representatives from independent container operators. The focus of the meeting was forms of cooperation between TransKontainer and the independent operators and the results of freight transport in IH2006. It was the second round table since TransKontainer began operating on market principles as an independent subsidiary of Russian Railways on 1 July 2006.

In IH2006, transport and forwarding services shipped 203,900 heavy-duty (20 and 40 foot) twenty-foot equivalent (TFE) containers, an increase of 238.1% compared to the same period in 2005.

In IH2006, Russia’s railways transported 537,900 heavy-duty (20 and 40 foot) twenty-foot equivalent (TFE) containers, an increase of 5.4% compared to the same period in 2005. The volume in Russia itself was 242,000 TFEs (up 5.7% on 2005), while internationally traffic amounted to 295,900 TFEs (an increase of 5.2% on 2005).

The participants at the round table noted that TransKontainer’s current results were in line with the planned and forecast financial and operational figures during the new company’s first month as a subsidiary of Russian Railways. More exact figures will be available in early August.

Important issues discussed during the discussion included cooperation with branches of TransKontainer and settling accounts between TransKontainer, market participants and Russian Railways, as well as price policy and formation.

Journalists from the trade press were present at the round table to ensure a wider discussion on freight transport. The results will be published on the TransKontainer website on 1 August 2006.

The round table concluded with a decision to hold regular sessions in the future.