MINSK, 19 June (BelTA) – The rail freight traffic between Belarus and Russia surged by 30% in January-May 2017, BelTA learned from the press center of the Belarusian railway operator.
“A delegation of Belarusian Railways is set to attend the 2nd Minsk Business Forum during the industrial Expo-Russia Belarus 2017 and partake in the roundtable session 'Russia-Belarus transport cooperation within the framework of the Union State' on 22 June. The rail freight traffic between Belarus and Russia totaled 25.5 million tonnes in January-May 2017, up 30% from the same period of last year,” the press center noted.
Belarusian Railways pays special attention to the development of rail freight transport by special container trains. Thanks to the measures to increase the efficiency of rail traffic management, some container trains cover 1400 km per day along the Pan-European Corridor II. This is one of the best indicators in the CIS and the Baltic states.
“In spring 2017 the Belarusian, German, Polish, Kazakhstani, Mongolian, and Chinese rail operators signed an agreement on cooperation in developing China-Europe container train service. This document is expected to play an important role in strengthening partnership between railway operators as it aims to help promote container train service and the East-West international transport corridor, and also contribute to the coordinated development of rail and logistics infrastructure,” the press service remarked.
A specific example of efficient Belarus-Russia cooperation in railway transport was cited, too: in 2016 the Belarusian railway operator in cooperation with Russian and Lithuanian colleagues ran freight trains on Belarus-Russia track and on Russia- Lithuania track via Belarus applying paperless technology.
Today Belarusian Railways operates 22 trains on Belarus-Russia track. For the Talgo train service connecting Moscow and Berlin the Belarusian company has put into service a special facility that does not require bogie exchange to handle multiple gauges. This measure helped reduce dwell time at the Belarus-Poland border from 137 to 35 minutes.
The industrial Expo-Russia Belarus will take place in Minsk on 21-23 June to mark the 25th anniversary of Belarus-Russia diplomatic relations, the anniversary of the Union State Treaty and the establishment of Belarus-Russia Unity Day.
