Russian Railways ready for increasing freight traffic between Russia and Belarus
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Roman Golovchenko and the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Russian Railways Oleg Belozerov have discussed railway transportation questions between Russia and Belarus.
The two men met on 8 September 2020 in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.
The CEO of Russian Railways informed the Prime Minister of Belarus that in the first half of the year, the growth in the volume of freight traffic between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus amounted to 10%. During the same period, container transit traffic through the territory of Belarus increased by 54%.
Russian Railways, together with its Belarusian partners, intends to develop new directions and work arrangements, placing special emphasis on the digitalisation of transportation and the introduction of new logistics solutions.
The joint Russian-Belarusian-Kazakh project the United Transport and Logistics Company - Eurasian Rail Alliance (UTLC ERA) is continuing to demonstrate steady development, as a result of which services in the seven months from January to July 2021 transported 43% more cargo than in the same period of 2020.
According to Roman Golovchenko and Oleg Belozerov, it is important to increase the capacity of the railway infrastructure and diversify routes in connection with the continued growth of transit container traffic.
Speaking about passenger services, Oleg Belozerov noted that the international traffic of Russian Railways, which was of course severely disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, has resumed from Belarus. Moreover, communication between the two countries has not only been restored, but Lastochka trains running between Moscow and Minsk were also launched. They immediately became so popular among passengers that since September, Russian Railways and BCh (Belarusian Railways) decided to double the number of carriages running with these trains from 5 to 10. In addition, since 1 September 2021, train No. 28/27 Brest - Moscow operated by Belarusian Railways has resumed its daily service.
In the eight months of this year to the end of August, two-thirds more passengers travelled between Russia and Belarus than from January to August last year.
Roman Golovchenko and Oleg Belozerov also noted the work carried out to attract Belarusian resources and equipment for the development of the Company’s operations in Russia’s Far Eastern region.