Problems and development trends of coal transportation infrastructure in Russia

Abstract

Analysis of the trends in the coal industry in Russia showed that, despite the stable demand in the global coal market, the growth rate of coal exports is slowing down. The main reason is the shortcomings of the transport and logistics infrastructure for the coal haulage. At the same time, the countries of the Asia-Pacific region are a promising export destination, and it is the Eastern operating domain of the Russian railway network that is most loaded and has insufficient throughput capacity. The study of the elements of the transport and logistics infrastructure revealed key problems, namely the underdevelopment of the railway infrastructure, the inconsistency of development programs for coal mining regions, port facilities and railway infrastructure, and the inconsistency of the operation of ports and the railway. Due to the fact that the development of the railway network in the eastern direction is a long-term project, and the coal haulage values will not be increased in the near future, an assessment is made of the possibility and economic efficiency of reorienting freight traffic in other directions.