OREANDA-NEWS. March 21, 2011. A joint meeting of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs’ (RUIE) Commission on Transport and Transport Infrastructure and the State Duma’s Committee on Transport to discuss piggyback transportation has taken place at the headquarters of Russian Railways. The meeting was held, reported the press-centre of Russian Railways.

In rail transport, piggybacking involves carrying trailers, semi-trailers or containers in a train atop a flatcar (intermodal freight transport).

According to Vyacheslav Lemeshko, Vice-President of Russian Railways, the Company is currently considering the results of pre-project studies to create rail ports, where loading and trans-shipment of heavy trucks will be carried out in Primorye, the Shushary industrial zone St. Petersburg and the Krasnodar region, as well as of business plans for the creation of terminal and logistics centres in Novosibirsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Kaliningrad and Moscow. Russian Railways is working actively on these areas with the administration of more than 20 federal subjects in Russia.

This follows a meeting of the Scientific and Technical Council of Russian Railways in October 2010, which identified priority areas for piggyback transportation. Thus, in particular, in 2011, a test transportation was scheduled between Helsinki - St. Petersburg - Moscow using a traditional technology-based platform developed in Finland. Further test shipments will be held in the Moscow region, which is Russia’s busiest regional transportation hub. The feasibility of further developing the piggyback segment will be determined on the basis of these test operations.

"Piggyback transportation can be highly successful between Helsinki - St. Petersburg - Moscow providing we have the requisite logistic centres. This will also accelerate the movement of goods across the borders with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia," said the head of the RUIE’s Commission on Transport and Transport Infrastructure Vladimir Yakunin, who is also the President of Russian Railways.

It was also noted at the meeting that piggyback shipments have significant potential for development within the State Customs Union between Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus.

Favourable conditions have been created for the development of new transport technology in Russia and the 1520 transport space using broad-gauge track, including the effective use of accumulated international experience, a well-developed rail network, terminals for general use and fewer overall restrictions on dimensions than in the European Union.

"So far, unfortunately, there is no statutory basis for operating piggyback shipments. We therefore need to undertake joint efforts with the various legislatures to solve this problem," said the head of Russian Railways.

In addition, the participants at the meeting emphasised the need to improve tariff policies.

Global experience shows that implementing piggyback projects provides synergies between rail and road transport, ensures security, reliability and mobility and significantly reduces environmental pollution, fuel consumption per ton of cargo shipped, the times spent during customs and border controls, the number of road accidents and wear and tear of road surfaces, thus increasing vehicle lifetimes.