New Solutions for Rolling Stock Control
12.09.2008 (17:49)
There is urgent problem of wagon park control because of increase of private rolling stock. Vyacheslav Lemeshko, Vice President of OAO RZD, comments on this situation.
- Mr. Lemeshko, is the problem of rolling stock control urgent because of growth of private wagons quantity?
- Nowadays, the quantity of rolling stock owners amounts to 3 thousand ones – 2292 companies own 533 thousand wagons. There are 13 companies and each of them owns 5,000 wagons. 65 companies own 1000-5000 units, 61 companies own 500-1000 wagons. 254 companies own 100-500 units.
The share of private rolling stock exceeds 50%. Fast growth of private freight wagons quantity and intensive exploitation of the RF inventory park by other railway administrations cause lack of loading resources. Besides, there is lack of coordination between operator and consignor and operator and carrier.
It is necessary to change principles of cooperation of OAO RZD as carrier with other participants of cargo transportation market. We should change current normative base, create legal framework to develop new methods of loading resources control. For example, problem of loading providing impacts on coal supplying for energy system. Thus, OAO RZD accounts for coal providing for energy and metallurgy companies. In 2008, the volume of coal transportation increased by 8 mln tones (+4.8%) year-on-year, but it is not enough. The working group was created to solve this problem. It includes specialists of OAO RZD, rolling stock owners, consignors of goods and consignees.
- Does it mean that rolling stock control technologies should be changed?
- Sure, it is necessary to change traditional technologies of loading resources control and solve new questions. Efficiency of centralized wagon park control decreased in new condition. We need new types of cooperation between carrier, operators and rolling stock owners, develop new methods of wagon park control.
It is necessary to reform system of transport planning taking into account real possibilities of infrastructure, rolling stock and interests of all parties participating in cargo delivery. We consider that it is reasonable to apply the same order of transport planning for empty and loaded private wagons.
OAO RZD and its affiliates should strengthen cooperation with large industrial enterprises and rolling stock owners to develop joint solutions to improve service. These measures are very important because the share of inventory park reduces.
- Vice President of OAO RZD Vadim Morozov said that a large operator or OAO RZD’s Department of wagon park control may carry out centralized control of private park. Could you tell about solutions of this question?
- One of the solutions of the problem is the creation of necessary conditions to carry out transportation in single information space by means of the management information systems respecting interests of all participants of transportation. However, realization of such a large project will demand considerable costs and time and the problem of wagon park control should be solved urgently. Therefore the companies should create pools for different types of rolling stock. Pools will unite operators and owners of rolling stock on a non-discriminatory basis respecting interests of all participants of transportation including rolling stock owners, carriers and cargo owners. It will allow to meet all transport requirements due to unite system of rolling stock control.
Nowadays methods of pool operation are not developed. It is difficult to say how it will work. Probably, rolling stock will be transferred to the companies in trust management. Owners of cargoes and rolling stock are ready to cooperate with OAO RZD to carry out this project. It is important to involve all participants of transportation market to develop solution for universal model of wagon park control.
Interviewed by Nadezhda Vtorushina
Print version









RZD’s daughter company RZD-Logistics should be formally launched on January 1, 2011. It will focus on rendering logistic services and positioning itself as a 3PL-provider. Valery Shpakov, CEO of Novaya Perevozochnaya Kompaniya OJSC (NPK, incorporated into Globaltrans group of companies), tells about his vision of the possible changes at the railway transportation market, potential problems, and solutions to them.
By the end of last year Russia had got its first high-speed railway line. Thus, in December 2009, the first stage for a high-speed passenger service between Moscow and St. Petersburg was completed. The next stages are: Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod, as well as starting traffic on the route between St Petersburg and Helsinki.
It is a surprise, but the current worldwide engineering industry does not engage its own manufacturers in designing new trains. It is outsourcing special companies. The French Alstom differs from others in this sense. Xavier Allard, Manager of Alstom Transport Design Department, tells us about the problems and trends in this engineering sector, and also how the "Allegro" design was created.
Operators still doubt in the rationality of park consolidation. Their fears cause complexities with maintenance of a turn of cars, and problems of realization of the scheme of interaction as a whole. The General Director of "VKM-TRANS" JSC Valery Andrushin has told about his vision of a situation.
Germany is one of the major foreign trade partners of Russia and a major investor in the domestic economy. However, supplies of goods and equipment from this country to the Russian Federation is connected with a number of difficulties. This is something we talked with Konstantin Piskun, the consultant on business development in Russia the port of Duisburg, German Chancellor Fellow.

