How the war brought Russian railroad to collapse
According to official statistics, the average technical speed of freight trains on the Russian Railways network fell to 40.6 km/h last year, the lowest since 1960. The average sectional speed, which includes time spent at stops, dropped to 35.7 km/h, the lowest since 1993. At the end of last year, freight traffic on Russian railways had declined to 1.18 billion tons, the lowest level since 2009.
▫️ The issues plaguing Russian Railways are yet another consequence of the war for Russia’s economy. Large-scale military transportation and the need to redirect trade flows to the East have thrown the railway network into chaos, causing congestion and abandoned trains. Sanctions have led to a shortage of spare parts, while the war has exacerbated staffing shortages, as many drivers have left for Putin’s “special military operation.”
Earlier, the Center also reported that Russian Railways was forced to cut funding for major railway infrastructure development projects due to the war.
