Russia’s Federal Transport Oversight Service (Rostransnadzor) has instructed the Russian Railways to prohibit the use of 1,160 freight cars, the service lives of which the Vagonnik company extended, according to Russian media reports.

According to materials from Rostransnadzor, the company extended the service lives of railcars operating on international routes in gross violations of the section of the law "On Rail Transport in Russia" that deals with operation without permits.

The violation of the law was uncovered during an unscheduled on-site inspection of Vagonnik.

Rostransnadzor ordered the Russian Railways to submit a report on the measures taken against the offending company by 21 July 2014 and submit monthly reports thereafter until the instructions are fully implemented.