Railway Reform: Toolkit for Improving Rail Sector Performance - ppiaf

Railway Reform: Toolkit for improving Rail Sector Performance
Case Study: Russian Railways
Similarly, since 1996, Russian railways staff productivity has improved by 267
percent (Figure 12), and RZhD’s staff productivity is about three times the EU
average. 182 However, coach productivity fell by 29 percent because passenger
transport reforms have had a slow start (Figure 11).
5 Conclusion
Railways are crucial to the economy and Russia approached reforms gradually,
which left RZhD as the dominant party. Reforms have taken 15 years, the last 10
years were the most active, which is longer than was originally planned, but progress
has been steady. As a result, reforms have succeeded in expanding rail
freight traffic, expanding market share, reducing freight rates, restoring operational
productivity, and attracting private capital to profitable sector elements
such as high-value freight. However, significant issues remain unresolved. For
freight, the next big issues are opening First and Second Freight companies, and
the locomotive market to private sector participation. For passenger transport,
financial sustainability remains elusive. Government issued Decree Number 377
(2008), “On Federal Target Program-Modernization of the Russian Transport
182 Ibid.
The World Bank Page 399