KRASNOYARSK, October 16 (Itar-Tass) — President of the RZD Company Vladimir Yakunin claims that the absence of cooperation between his company and its partners is the main reason for failures in the operation of railway transport.
“The main reason for failures in work of the railway transport is absence of a clear-cut system of cooperation between the RZD Company and its partners. These relations have not been regulated, above all, at the legislative level,” Yakunin said on Sunday in Krasnoyarsk, replying to a question by Itar-Tass.
In the president’s opinion, the most difficult situation exists in relations between RZD and private owners of the rolling stock. Now, some 200 such companies operate on the Krasnoyarsk Railway, while in Russia, there are over 1,800 private wagon owners. “They determine on their own routes of movement of their wagons, disregarding possibilities of the infrastructure.
“As a result, empty wagons clog stations, passing by cargoes. As a result, cargo owners suffer losses, and the economy of regions suffers,” noted the RZD head.
Consignors often conclude double contracts with several wagon owners. At the same time, they did not take into account handling capacities of stations and approach roads,” Yakunin added.
He was echoed by head of the Krasnoyarsk Railway (KZD) Vladimir Reingardt who instanced as an example a situation at the Novaya Yelovka rail station where there are 2,300 tank-cars, while the station can handle daily, on average, 350 wagons. “At the same time, wagon owners are not called to economic or administrative responsibility, in compliance with operating legislation, by the RZD Company for overloading infrastructure or a failure to offer wagons,” Reingard noted.
State structure also make their contribution to the misbalance of rail haulage. The head of the Krasnoyarsk Railway quoted an example with the local customs house which does not work on off-days. If a consignor is short of time to fill out necessary customs documents on Friday, wagons will stand idle at least for three days. “This is the reason why 252 wagons with timber now stand idle in Lesosibirsk, occupying also the station’s infrastructure,” Reingard emphasised.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin spoke of problems in the operation of railway transport at a meeting with head of the RZD Company Yakunin on Saturday. The reason for this was complaints by industrialists, connected with the problem of hauling coal, grain and other products.
President Dmitry Medvedev also paid attention to this situation; he demanded that the government should settle this question.
The head of the RZD Company will report the Russian cabinet head in St. Petersburg on the results of his trip to Krasnoyarsk over the next few days.