Total Crisis: RZD Cargo Transportation Plunged to a Minimum in the Last Decade and a Half and Continues to Decline

Russian Railways (RZD) faced the largest cargo transportation crisis in history. Leading players in the export market (Rusal, NLMK and Gazpromneft) significantly reduced their requests for rail shipments. This was reported by the press service of RZD.

The reasons for this situation were the high key rate of the Central Bank, international sanctions and the unfavorable situation in world markets.

Since the end of last year, the company has been experiencing a sharp decline in cargo traffic, which negatively affects its financial performance.

At the end of the first quarter of this year, the level of loading reached its minimum value in the last decade and a half and continues to decline. The most dramatic decline occurred in April, when the decline was about 8.6%. Experts predict a further reduction in cargo traffic by approximately 3%.

The crisis had the greatest impact on foreign trade supplies of metals, timber and petroleum products destined for China. Western sanctions against leading Russian raw material enterprises exacerbate the situation and lead to a further reduction in demand for cargo transportation.

At the same time, RZD expects growth in passenger traffic. It was previously reported about the supertrain of the future, which was presented at TransportFest-2025, where viewers were shown a model of a high-speed train between St. Petersburg and Moscow.

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