Less than 41 km/h: Average freight train speed in Russia has fallen to 1960 levels.

By the end of the third year of the war, Russia's railway network had plunged into chaos, facing massive traffic jams and gridlock.

This is due not only to drone attacks, but also to the fact that trains carrying military equipment, weapons, and ammunition are given priority. All other cars are given priority.

As noted in the study of independent regional media, united in #CoalitionAgainstPropaganda, by the end of 2024, the average technical speed of freight trains fell to 40,6 km / h — the last time such a low figure was recorded was in 1960.

Now shipping container from Vladivostok в Moscow could take two months, which would have been unimaginable five years ago.

Russian Railways is freezing all large-scale construction projects, including the modernization of the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM). Meanwhile, the debt burden has increased sixfold, to almost 700 billion.

Against this backdrop, the volume of freight traffic is steadily declining: according to the results of the first five months, it fell by 7,3% compared to last year. In total, Russian Railways forecasts a decline of 8,8 %.

RBC, citing its own sources сообщаетDue to the decline in traffic volumes, employees of the central office and road administrations of Russian Railways have already begun taking two days of unpaid leave per month—this is necessary to avoid layoffs.

Photo: Sergey Belov/ROLLINGSTOCK