Private wagon operators’ rolling stock is actively being used for the transportation of military equipment and other military goods in Russia.
This is stated in a report in the Russian-based Kommersant publication, the CFTS portal reports.
According to the Russian publication, general-purpose flatcars and covered wagons with volumes of up to 120 cubic meters are most often used for special transport operations. For some operators of covered wagons, the proportion of the operators’ fleets that was used to meet Russia’s military transport needs is about 5%. For others, it reached 10%.
According to the report, a major private operator has even left the market of operators of flatcars and low-volume general-purpose wagons. Of course, it left not for political reasons but because of financial losses.
The government of Russia is currently developing a mechanism for compensating private operators for the use of their wagons for military transport operations because of this.
As reported, it was proposed in the spring that control of private operators’ wagons be transferred to the Russian Railways for performing "state tasks."
