Russian Railways to increase Eastern Polygon capacity by 9.5% this year
The company is to perform works for RUB 250 billion
Russian Railways is going to build up the capacity of the Eastern Polygon from 158 million tonnes to 173 million tonnes (by 9.5%) by the end of 2023. For that purpose, the company is to perform works for RUB 250 billion to complete the construction of 142 facilities on the BAM and Transsib lines (out 263 facilities planned for construction), Sergey Kobzev, First Deputy Head of Russian Railways, said at the Federation Council meeting, according to the company’s Telegram.
As IAA PortNews reported earlier, modernization of the Eastern Polygon of railways which is underway in pursuance of the presidential order is to result in the increase the BAM and the Transsib export capacity 1.5 times to 180 million tonnes per year by 2024.
The turn of the cargo flows to the Far East has drastically increased the timing requirements on modernization of the Eastern Polygon, Yury Trutnev, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation - Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District, said in July 2022 at the meeting in Khabarovsk. According to him, BAM and Transsib failed to deliver 70 million tonnes of cargo in 2021. In 2022, that volume reached 100 million tonnes as the demand is as high as 258 million tonnes.
According to the Ministry of Economic Development, export/import traffic across the Eastern Polygon totaled 157.4 million tonnes. Taking into account the forecast of the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic, eastwards cargo flows by the railway will reach at least 219 million tonnes per year by 2030.
Russian Railways earlier announced plans to carry about 160 million tonnes in 2023 due to implementation of some technological activities within the Eastern Polygon.
