OREANDA-NEWS.  April 15, 2013. Vladimir Yakunin, President of Russian Railways, has held a conference call during which he summed up the Company's work in March and the first quarter of 2013.

According to Yakunin, loading volumes in the first quarter of 2013 decreased by 4.1% or 3% in terms of the daily average compared to the same period in 2012, which as a leap year included the extra day of 29 February 2012. The fall was due to the deterioration in the amount of cargo delivered for shipment.

In these circumstances, the Company is giving priority to improving its operational efficiency.

In the first quarter, Russian Railways met all its targets on the railway network as a whole, including for the average weight per freight train, which was 0.3% above target, average daily productivity per locomotive (2.1% above target) and the average service speed, which was 0.3% above the targeted figure.

The Company continues to implement technology to ensure that freight trains run on schedule and in March 2013 dispatched 548 such trains. The economic benefit to the Company amounted to 45 million roubles.

In addition, delivery times between Novokuznetsk-Severny – Mys Astafieva were reduced from 9.5 days in March 2012 to 9 days and between Smychka – Mys Astafieva from 13 to 12 days.

Yakunin told department heads about the need for effective work as the country emerges from the winter season.

Due to the heavy rainfall at the end of March and the rapid transition to average daily temperatures above freezing point, it is now expected that the usual spring floods will be higher than historical averages.

The railways are therefore building defensive structures to contain the melt water, cleaning ditches and drainage ditches and, in preparation for emergencies, forming anti-washout trains provided with the necessary materials.

The head of Russian Railways said that all this work would have to be completed by the beginning of May 2013.