OREANDA-NEWS. December 25, 2014. The President of Russian Railways, Vladimir Yakunin, presented the Company's preliminary results in the freight sector in 2014 to a meeting of the Board of Directors in Moscow.

According to Yakunin, loading volumes of goods on the railway network in 2014 decreased by 0.9% compared to 2013. Export shipments rose by over 5%, while loading on the domestic market fell by 3.6%. After taking into account empty wagon runs, freight turnover increased by almost 5% compared to last year by increasing shipment distances.

"The Company attaches great importance to customer focus. According to independent estimates, the overall level of satisfaction with the quality of freight services provided by Russian Railways in 2013 increased steadily. These improvements were based on large-scale changes in transport technology," said Vladimir Yakunin.

According to the Company President, the improved performance indicators in this area given the limited budgetary resources were the result of several major levers.

Above all, the Company is actively using its internal resources. It is continuing to develop a process approach to management to facilitate the roll-out of a large-scale programme of lean manufacturing, quality and safety audits in the shipment process and the efficient use of resources.

Russian Railways is also improving its technological coordination of participants on the market for rail transportation services. This year, the Company has achieved positive technological results in managing the fleet of gondolas at its subsidiary Federal Freight and continued to improve its traffic management with a completely private fleet.

In addition, the use of innovative solutions has made possible the implementation of modern technologies and management approaches.

In 2014, certification was completed of innovative mainline electric freight locomotives using AC with the 2ES5 Scythian and 2ES7 asynchronous traction motors. In November, the 4ES5K, the world's most powerful electric freight locomotive, also received its certificate. All these engines are designed for use with heavy trains.

On 13 December 2014, a production model of the GT1h main line gas turbine locomotive, made its first trip, hauling a train weighing 9,000 tons on the section between Rybnoe – Orekhovo-Zyevo on Moscow Railways.

The Company's investment projects to eliminate the bottlenecks on the railway infrastructure have led to a significant improvement work efficiency and quality.

According to Vladimir Yakunin, Russian Railways is also actively implementing the decision of the Government of the Russian Federation to transform the Company into a transport and logistics holding.

The practical work of RZD Logistics, a subsidiary of Russian Railways, with clients such as EVRAZ, MECHEL, SUEK and Siberian Anthracite, shows that when planning their logistics, these companies prefer the through services of the RZD holding company, which include freight handling and forwarding in the ports, sea freight and transportation both on Russian and on international railways.

Vladimir Yakunin also recalled that 2014 saw the creation of the Integrated Transport and Logistics Company (ITLC), which provides quality door- to-door cargo delivery services.

According to the head of Russian Railways, the growth in sales of logistics services at the Holding's GEFCO subsidiary in 2014 was significantly higher than that of the average on the market.

"In the future, we will be focusing on the new technologies at the GEFCO subsidiary, which has competencies in 3PL and 4PL logistics. It should become a key element in the work of the entire Russian Railways Holding," said the head of the Company.