Annual increase in rail transportations in Ukraine
Every year, the freight turnover on the railway increases by 7-15%. Also, it was noted that grain now have 11% of the total cargo volume. However, today the funds that are invested in the development of the infrastructure are clearly not enough.
According to the representatives of Ukrzaliznytsia, the problem connected to the lack of cars can be effectively decided by increasing tariffs for the transportation of grain with grain hoppers that belong to Ukrzaliznytsia. The increase will stimulate the purchase of grain hoppers by private companies. Thus, with new tariffs, the profitability of purchasing grain hoppers increases for private companies, and Ukrzaliznytsia, in turn, will be able to invest the funds in development of infrastructure.
It should also be noted that during the past year, the number of grain hoppers in the fleet of railway cars owned by Ukrzaliznytsia has increased by 1-1,2 thousand units, and the total number now amounts to about 6000 railway cars. However, a new problem arose. Now it is a lack of rolling stock.
In recent years, Ukraine has seen an annual increase in the volume of freight transported by rail. According to the latest reports, in 2017, the volume of transportation reached 361.2 million tons, which is 2.8% more than in 2016. This growth is attributed to improvements in the infrastructure of rail transport and the modernization of the wagon and locomotive fleet. Experts predict further growth in transportation in the coming years, which will contribute to the development of the country’s transport infrastructure and increase its competitiveness in the global market. However, it is also important to consider the impact of environmental factors in this process and the need for the development of environmentally friendly modes of transport.