Infrastructural constraints impeding the development of high-speed freight rail transportation in Russia

Emperor Alexander I St. Petersburg State Transport University, 9 Moskovsky pr., 190031 Saint Petersburg, Russia

^* Corresponding author: sivlen@mail.ru

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of infrastructural restrictions that hinder the development of high-speed freight transportation by rail in the Russian Federation. The relevance of the chosen topic is confirmed by the presence of a significant number of scientific publications that reflect the national specifics of the modern development of freight transportation using HSR and their infrastructure. The purpose of the article is to determine the infrastructural constraints that hinder the development of freight transportation in HSR transport systems tailored to the Russian specifics of infrastructure development. The object of the study is the infrastructure of railway transport and the rolling stock fleet, the subject is high-speed freight transportation. The main methods used in the study are an analysis and systematization of scientific publications on the topic, a quantitative analysis of open-source data, and interviews with Russian experts in the field under study. In the course of research there have been systematized the infrastructural constraints that hinder the development of high-speed freight transportation in Russia, and the possibilities of using special rolling stock have been considered. According to the results of the study of the Russian service market, there are determined the prospects for its further development through the introduction of a new type of railway transport service, “container — express”, and the factors preventing its successful adaptation. The results obtained can be useful both to the business community in terms of developing strategies and tactics for the introduction of high-speed container freight transportation into the segment of the Russian market, and to regulatory authorities in the field of transport in terms of promoting innovative business models and improving the quality of transport customer service.