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Railway transport. Railway transport. Briefly about ways to solve problems

Railway transport. Railway transport. Briefly about ways to solve problems

Transport infrastructure plays a key role in strengthening and maintaining state economy. Thanks to the development of railway transport in Russia, which transports large-sized and multi-ton cargo, the full operation of all industries is ensured National economy, supply of regions, industrial enterprises. Rail transport is of great importance for ensuring economic security and the integrity of the country.

Russian Railways

Today, Russian Railways is a comprehensive transport system with many thousands of passenger traffic and cargo turnover. Actual indicators of technical equipment indicate real prospects for the development of railway transport in Russia. It can be briefly described using the following data:

operational length - more than 90 thousand km;
the total length of double-track lines is more than 40 thousand km;
electrified lines - about 40 thousand km;
the length of the main routes is 126.3 thousand km.

The rolling stock and domestic railway infrastructure make it possible to carry out freight transportation on trains weighing 10-12 thousand tons.

The railway transport network occupies a leading position among all modes of transport. Despite the fact that bus and air services have been intensively developing over the past decades, Russian Railways remains the main instrument for ensuring the massive movement of goods and passengers both within the country and abroad.

The first railway tracks

The history of the development of railway transport in Russia dates back to the middle of the 16th century. The first analogues of modern rail tracks arose in the territory of stone and sand quarries, in mining excavations and coal mines. At that time, the road consisted of long tracks made of wooden beams. Along these routes, horses could carry heavier loads than on regular country roads. The beams quickly wore out, causing the carts to often go off track. In order for wooden beds to last longer, they began to be reinforced with iron, and in the 18th century - with cast iron sheets. The edges on the beds helped prevent the carts from leaving the tracks.

Thus, in Petrozavodsk in 1778, a cast iron rail road was built, the length of which was 160 m. At that time, the tracks were built much narrower than modern ones (no more than 80 cm), and the rail itself was angular.

The period of development of railway transport in Russia in the first half of the 19th century was characterized by a more intensive pace. 30 years after the construction of the first 160-meter cast-iron track, a two-kilometer horse-drawn cast-iron road appeared. A significant leap in the history of the development of railway transport in Russia occurred during the period from the second half of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century.

Thus, in 1913, the mileage of the railway network within the current borders of the country reached almost 72 thousand km. At the same time, the paths were placed chaotically and unevenly. The majority of roads were located in the European part of Russia. The locomotive fleet consisted of low-power steam locomotives (500-600 hp), and two-axle freight cars had an average load capacity of 15 tons.

Development strategies for Russian railways

In 2008, the Government approved a concept for improving the railway infrastructure until 2030. The strategy for the development of railway transport in Russia contains a description of a set of planned measures to create and improve rail roads, improve existing ones and adopt new requirements for rolling stock.

This program is divided into two stages. The first was implemented between 2008 and 2015, the second was launched in 2016. The development of railway transport in Russia is based on the principles of increasing the resource and raw material potential of the industry and introducing innovative modern technologies. The current Strategy involves the construction of more than 20 thousand km of roads by 2030.

To date, the construction of railways has already been completed with the following messages:

Polunochnoe - Obskaya - Salekhard (length about 850 km);
Prokhorovka - Zhuravka - Bataysk (the total length of the tracks is about 750 km);
Kyzyl - Kuragino (460 km);
Tommot - Yakutsk, including the section on the left bank of the Lena (550 km).

If the planned measures for the construction and commissioning of rail roads are implemented, the total length of the tracks by the end of the period will increase by 20-25%. The document, which defines the role of the prospects for the development of railway transport in Russia, focuses on the importance of this system of passenger and freight traffic for solving problems of strengthening economic sovereignty, national security and increasing the level of defense capability. In addition, the above Strategy implies a reduction in total costs in the transport segment of the national economy. An interesting detail in this context is that this kind of plan, which is being implemented in parallel with the Transport Strategy of the Russian Federation, was drawn up exclusively for the development of railway transport in Russia.

The real state of affairs in the railway infrastructure

In recent years, Russian railways have seen a decline in production and a decline in labor productivity indicators. The rolling stock used not only prevents an increase in freight turnover, but also contributes to an increase in the number of accidents on the ruts. Urgent reconstruction and major repairs are required for a significant number of train stations and train stations.

Today, the railways of our country operate trains, wagons, locomotives and special equipment produced in the USSR, Germany and Czechoslovakia. The issue of production of new equipment is under the control of the commercial holding companies Transmashholding, Sinara, ICT and the state enterprise Uralvagonzavod. Over the past ten years, the rolling stock on the most popular routes "Moscow - St. Petersburg" and "St. Petersburg - Helsinki" has been replenished with high-speed trains from the German company Siemens and the French manufacturer Alstom.

The main player on whom the prospects for the development of railway transport in Russia depend is JSC Russian Railways. The companies of this largest holding company in the country own their own railway infrastructure, a fleet of wagons and rolling stock.

Freight transportation on Russian Railways

In Russia there are several types of freight traffic on rail tracks:

local - within the same route;
direct - within the boundaries of one or several railway junctions using a single travel document;
direct mixed - implies combined transportation by several modes of transport (in addition to rail, water, road, air, water-vehicle, etc. can be used);
direct international - is carried out when transporting cargo on road sections of two or more countries under a single document.

Features of the development of railway transport in Russia, engaged in the transportation of goods, lie in the differences in delivery speed. Thus, the bulk of freight trains transport goods that do not require specific transportation conditions. Cargo compartments in passenger trains (luggage compartments) are designed for the transportation of mail, correspondence, and personal belongings of passengers. High-speed rolling stock is used to deliver perishable goods. The maximum permissible speed at which trains can travel is 160 km/h.

Features of surface rail roads in the capital

The development of railway transport in Moscow may be the envy of other regions. Despite the demand for constantly modernizing metro lines, it is planned to build and reconstruct about 80 kilometers of rail tracks in the capital over the next 2-3 years. By 2019, according to a representative of the Moscow urban planning complex, five new stations will appear within the city.

Despite the fact that just a few years ago, intracity and intercity electric train services in Moscow were considered outdated and ineffective, today experts say: surface railways are capable of providing the same carrying capacity, the same frequency of movement, volume of transportation and passenger comfort as those available in Moscow. metro. In addition, the capital authorities are confident that the construction of railways is a less expensive industry than the construction of a metro.

The length of the Moscow railway is more than 13 thousand kilometers, despite the fact that this type of transport serves about 30 million passengers, which is approximately a fifth of the Russian population. Another feature of the development of railway transport in Moscow is the expansion of infrastructure far beyond the boundaries of the agglomeration and coverage of about ten subjects of the Central federal district. The thing is that the capital's railway was originally intended as an inter-subject infrastructure that would allow solving interregional and intercity transport communication problems. Fundamental changes have occurred since the launch of the MCC.

Moscow ring railway artery

Central, which launched the MCC, explained the success of the project by the emergence of the actual possibility of movement in any direction by rail with a transfer. This system commuter trains was created for the purpose of integrating radial stations. Now Muscovites and guests of the capital have no problems traveling outside the Moscow Ring Road. So, for example, it won’t be difficult to get from the Kazan direction to Severyanin by transferring to the MCC along Freser or towards the Yaroslavl highway.

Since the opening of the Moscow Central Circle, almost 100 million passengers have traveled along it in less than a year. Despite the increased popularity of electric trains, they are still used as an alternative and additional view railway transport in Russia. The stages of development of the MCC are being implemented along the path of strengthening the integration of the metro with the surface railway network.

The main problems of railways in our country

Along with the strengthening of the industrial economic sector, the stage of formation and development of railway transport in Russia is taking place. The problems in this area are gaining significance against the backdrop of global trends in technological and technical modernization, and the introduction of innovative developments in railway transport.

At the moment, it is necessary to strive to reduce the gap between the quality of Russian railways, rolling stock and infrastructure of foreign competitors. In order to first of all, it is necessary to consistently solve the main industry problems and eliminate a number of issues that impede the targeted development of railway transport in Russia.

It is necessary to proceed from the fact that the main goal of the functioning of the railway system is fast, convenient, inexpensive (that is, economically profitable) and safe transportation of passengers and delivery of goods not only within the country, but also abroad. The main problems of Russian railways as an integral infrastructure are two negative predetermining factors:

absence economic progress and efficiency of transport services, including the lack of speed of movement, low level comfort at the unreasonably high cost of passenger transportation;
low degree of technical reliability and operational safety of trains and rail tracks.

The first group includes collisions in the technological and management sectors, which nullify the feasibility of the railway infrastructure and hamper the growth of its financial efficiency. The second category includes the difficulties of technical production, equipment and operation: problems with the safety of equipment operation, technical means, the lack of a fully functioning labor protection model for industry employees, and the adverse environmental impact on the surrounding areas. These problems will only get worse as railway transport develops in Russia.

Briefly about ways to solve problems

To eliminate the described imperfections in the domestic railway infrastructure, it will be necessary to take a set of measures to effectively modernize it, guaranteeing the integrity and strengthening of the economic space of the Russian Federation, but at the same time not infringing on the constitutional rights of citizens to freedom of movement. The current Strategy implies a step-by-step solution to the problems of railway transport by creating conditions in Russia for achieving the fundamental geopolitical and geo-economic goals of the state. No less important is the reboot and renewal of the existing infrastructure base, which is fundamentally important for the socio-economic growth in the country. For the development of the railway transport industry it is also necessary:

provide transport accessibility for points of resource provision and production progress;
allocate additional jobs, provide railway transport workers with social guarantees, including the right to annual rest, the right to treatment, and education;
bring the level of quality and safety of passenger transportation in line with the requirements of the population and international standards;
ensure maximum carrying capacity and reserves to create the optimal number of offers when market conditions fluctuate;
continue integration into the international railway system;
maintain a high level of skills to act in emergency situations that meet the requirements of defense capability and safety;
strive to increase the investment attractiveness of railway infrastructure;
maintain social stability in the industry and ensure a decent quality of life for workers, respect the priority of youth policy and support for industry veterans;
deploy high standards labor productivity with sustainable provision of the transportation process by qualified specialists.

Is it worth developing railway transport?

In the age of all-consuming integration processes, the railway infrastructure has acquired the status of a mechanism, a kind of lever for the division of labor. In addition, the railway sector can be considered as a strategic object of influence of globalization processes in the world. Russian railways are also a knowledge-intensive theoretical area of economics. In order to maintain the achieved positions and continue to improve the infrastructure, it is important to create all the conditions for carrying out the latest scientific and technical developments in the country.

Railway tracks in Russia increase by several thousand kilometers every year. The railway transport sector is an integral segment of the modern economy of developed countries.

The transport system plays an important role in the economic development of any country. In Russia, one of the main transport arteries is the railway, since it accounts for more than 40% of passenger turnover and 80% of the total freight turnover of the state.

The importance of railway transport in Russia is fundamental, because the country is characterized by long distances. From efficient work This system depends on the level of development of the state's economy. Every year, thanks to the well-coordinated work of the railway, the following is transported:

about 98% manganese and iron ore,
92% ferrous metals,
88% mineral and chemical fertilizers,
87% coal and coke.

Since the first construction of the railway in Russia, which happened in 1830, this type of transport has required large investments, but despite this, the railway has a number of advantages:

operates around the clock in all weather conditions;
has a low cost of transportation (especially when transporting over long distances);
connects all regions and districts of Russia;
has the lowest environmental impact factor.

The role of railway transport

The role of railway transport in Russia is difficult to overestimate, because it is one of the largest in the world, thanks to which it provides 25% of the world's freight turnover and about 15% of the world's passenger turnover.

In Russia, railway transport is a branch of the economy, without which the uninterrupted operation of all economic sectors is not possible. In order to understand in more detail what role this transport system plays, it is necessary to consider its segments in more detail:

Transporting passengers and cargo. Production of products can only take place when they are delivered to the consumer. For the manufacturing and mining industries, as well as for agricultural enterprises, railway transport (railway transport) is one of the most efficient and cheapest types of delivery.
A developed transport system is the key to economic development.
Acts as a link between different systems economy.
As an independent industry, it offers its products with a number of features.

Namely, as a result of the implementation of measures aimed at increasing the efficiency of transportation, it was possible to improve the basic qualities of railway transport performance indicators. So for last years in the country:

the local speed of freight trains has increased,
the turnover of freight cars has decreased,
the average weight of freight trains has increased,
The average daily productivity of locomotives and freight cars increased.

All districts and regions of Russia are connected together by railways, thereby meeting the transportation needs of not only the population, but also industry, Agriculture. All modes of transport complement each other and form a single transport system.

Transportation of products has its own units of measurement:

tonne-kilometers (freight turnover)
tons (number of cargo)
passenger kilometers (passenger turnover)
passengers (number of passengers)

Key performance indicators of railways

Freight density on railways. This indicator calculates the amount of cargo transported over a certain period of time. Sometimes the reduced load intensity can be calculated through the reduced cargo turnover. Freight density on railways is characterized by an average amount.
Passenger turnover of railway transport is the volume of transport work for transporting passengers, calculated in passenger kilometers per year.
Freight turnover of railway transport is the volume of transport work for the transportation of goods, calculated in ton-kilometers per year.

Strategy for the development of railway transport until 2030

In 2008, the government of the country developed a strategy for the development of railway transport until 2030. It provides for the expansion of the railway network, bringing technical and technological railway transport to the world level, and increasing the competitiveness of the country's railway transport. Over the next 14 years, it is planned to build important strategic, socially significant and cargo-generating lines, the total length of which will be more than 15,800 km.

The state strategy provides for:

introduce more than 20,000 km of new railway lines,
organize transport support for 18 promising mineral deposits and industrial zones,
create lines that will ensure the movement of passenger trains at speeds of up to 350 km/h, with a length of 1528 km,
update the rolling stock (purchase of 23,000 locomotives, 900,000 freight cars and 30,000 passenger cars),
increase the density of the railway network by 23.8%, while completely eliminating transport and capacity restrictions.

To achieve the set goals, more than 13 trillion have been allocated for the development of railway transport. rub., in addition, there are plans to actively use the mechanism of public-private partnership. 40% of investments will be allocated for the construction of new railway lines, 31% for the development of existing facilities, and 29% for the renewal of rolling stock.

If the above is implemented, it will be possible to ensure socio-economic growth, increase the mobility of the population, optimize the flow of goods, strengthen economic sovereignty, national security, and the defense capability of the country, reduce total transport costs, and increase the competitiveness of the national economy.

Today, almost a million kilometers of railway tracks have been laid in the leading countries of the world. Many developments have been invented to improve railway transport: from trains running on electricity to trains that move on a magnetic levitation without touching the rails.

Some inventions have become firmly established in our lives, while others remain at the level of plans. For example, the development of locomotives that would run on nuclear energy, but due to the high environmental hazard and high financial costs they were never built.

Now the world's first railway is being developed for a gravity train, which will move due to its inertia and

Rail transport has great potential. More and more new ways of traveling by rail are being invented, despite the fact that, it seems, everything in this area has long been invented.

The origins of railway transport

The very first railways began to appear in the mid-16th century throughout Europe. This could not be called railway transport to its fullest extent. Trolleys traveled along the tracks, pulled by horses.

These roads were mainly used in stone mining, mines and mines. They were made of wood, and horses could carry a load weighing much more on them than on a regular road.

But such rail tracks had a significant drawback: they quickly wore out, and the carts left the tracks. In order to reduce the wear of wood, they began to use cast iron or iron strips for strengthening.

The first railways, the rails of which were made entirely of cast iron, began to be used only in the 18th century.

The first public railway

The world's first passenger railway was built in England on October 27, 1825. It connected the cities of Stockton and Darlington, and was originally intended to transport coal from the mines to the port of Stockon.

The railway project was carried out by engineer George Stephenson, who already had experience in operating and managing railways in Killingworth. To begin construction of the road, it was necessary to wait four whole years for parliamentary approval. The innovation had many opponents. Horse owners did not want to lose their income.

The very first train that carried passengers was converted from coal cars. And in 1833, for the rapid transportation of coal, the road was completed to Middlesbrough.

In 1863 the road became part of the North Eastern Railway, which is still in operation today.

Railway underground

The world's first railway, which ran underground, was a breakthrough in the field public transport. The British were the first to build it. The need for the underground appeared at a time when Londoners became fully aware of traffic jams.

In the first half of the 19th century, clusters of various carts appeared on the central streets of the city. Therefore, they decided to “unload” traffic flows by creating a tunnel underground.

The London underground tunnel project was invented by the Frenchman Marc Isambard Brunel, who lived in the UK.

Construction of the tunnel was completed in 1843. At first it was used only as a subway, but later the idea of a subway was born. And on January 10, 1893, the grand opening of the first underground railroad took place.

It used steam locomotive traction, and the length of the tracks was only 3.6 kilometers. The average number of passengers transported was 26 thousand people.

In 1890, the trains were modified, and they began to move not on steam traction, but on electricity.

Magnetic railway

The world's first railway on which trains moved was patented in 1902 by the German Alfred Seiden. Attempts at construction were made in many countries, but the first was presented at the International Transport Exhibition in Berlin in 1979. She worked for only three months.

Magnetic railway trains move without touching the rails, and the only braking force for the train is the force of aerodynamic drag.

Today they cannot compete with the railways and the metro, because, despite the high speed of movement and noiselessness (some trains can reach speeds of up to 500 km/h), they have a number of significant disadvantages.

Firstly, large financial investments will be required to create and maintain magnetic roads. Secondly, magnetic levitation trains. Thirdly, it causes great harm environment. And fourthly, the magnetic railway has a very complex track infrastructure.

Many countries, including the Soviet Union, planned to create such roads, but later abandoned this idea.

Railways in Russia

For the first time in Russia, the predecessors of full-fledged railways were used in Altai in 1755 - these were wooden rails in mines.

In 1788, the first railway for factory needs was built in Petrozavodsk. And for passenger transportation in 1837, the St. Petersburg - Tsarskoye Selo railway appeared. Steam-powered trains ran along it.

Later, in 1909, the Tsarskoye Selo Railway became part of the Imperial Line, which connected Tsarskoye Selo with all lines of the St. Petersburg Railway.

Rail transport plays an important role in the functioning and development of the country's commodity market and in meeting the population's needs for movement. It is the main link in the transport system of Russia and most CIS countries. The special role of railways Russian Federation determined by large distances, the absence of inland waterways in the main East-West communications, the cessation of navigation on rivers in winter, and the remoteness of the location of the main industrial and agricultural centers from sea routes. In this regard, they account for almost 50% of cargo turnover and more than 46% of passenger turnover of all types of transport in the country.

The main area of application of railway transport is mass transportation of goods and passengers in interdistrict (interregional), intercity and suburban communications, with freight traffic predominating, which accounts for over 80% of income. Passenger transportation by rail is dominated by suburban and local traffic (about 90% of the total number of passengers). Long-distance passenger transportation accounts for over 40% of passenger turnover.

The importance of Russian railways in the development of interstate relations with the CIS countries and international transportation is great. Historically, railway transport in Russia, and then the USSR, developed as a single structure with the same, different from the Western, rail gauge (1520 mm) and rational placement of technical equipment and auxiliary production throughout the country. The total operational length of steel main lines in the USSR in 1991 was 147.5 thousand km. After the collapse of the USSR, almost 60% of the total railway network or 87.5 thousand km went to the Russian Federation. The material and technical base was also torn apart, in particular repair services, locomotive and carriage building. Currently, domestic production of technical equipment for railways (electric trains, freight and passenger cars) is being established, cooperation and mutually beneficial cooperation with the CIS countries and other states on these issues is developing. The density of the railway network in Russia is 0.51 km per 100 km 2, which is significantly lower than the density of railways not only in developed countries, but also in most former republics of the USSR (in Ukraine - 2.76 km, in Belarus - 2.77 km, Latvia - 3.60 km, Georgia - 2.2 km, Uzbekistan - 0.79 km, Kazakhstan - 0.53 km per 100 km 2). It is obvious that the construction of new railway lines is necessary in Russia, especially for the development of large deposits of fuel and raw materials in the east of the country.

The technical and economic features and advantages of railway transport are as follows:

The possibility of constructing on any land territory, and with the help of bridges, tunnels and ferries - implementing railway communications with separated, including island, territories (for example, between the mainland and Sakhalin Island);

Mass transportation and high carrying capacity of railways (up to 80-90 million tons of cargo on a double-track line or 20-30 million tons on a single-track line per year);

Versatility of use for the transportation of various goods and the possibility of mass transportation of goods and passengers at high speed;

Regularity of transportation regardless of the time of year, time of day and weather;

The ability to create a direct connection between large enterprises along access railway tracks and ensure the delivery of goods according to the “door to door” scheme without expensive transshipments;

Compared with by water transport, as a rule, a shorter route for transporting goods (on average by 20%);

Relatively low cost of transportation compared to other modes of transport, except pipeline.

Rail transport will continue to remain the country's leading transport, however, the pace of its development may be slower than road, pipeline and air transport, due to their insufficient development in our country. In addition, one should take into account increasing competition in the transport market, technological progress and some disadvantages of railways - the capital intensity of construction and the relatively slow return on advanced capital (6-8 years, and sometimes more). The construction of 1 km of single-track railway (in late 1995 prices) in moderately difficult conditions costs almost 7-9 billion rubles, and in difficult climatic and geological conditions in the east of the country - 2-3 times more expensive. The cost of constructing a double-track line is usually 30-40% higher than a single-track line. Therefore, the return on capital costs in railway construction largely depends on the capacity of the developed freight and passenger flows on the new line. Typically, per unit of investment in the development of railway transport there are more products (ton-kilometers) than in other modes of transport (with the current distribution of traffic).

Railways are large consumers of metal (almost 200 tons are required per 1 km of track). In addition, rail transport is a very labor-intensive industry, in which labor productivity is lower than in pipeline, sea and air transport (but higher than in road transport). On average, per 1 km of operational length of Russian railways there are almost 14 people employed in transportation, and in the USA - 1.5 people with approximately similar volumes of transport work.

The disadvantages of Russian railways also include the currently low level of quality of transport services provided to customers. At the same time, the good technical equipment and advanced technologies of Russian railways allow it to remain a completely competitive mode of transport.

The main elements of the technical equipment of railway transport are a rail track with artificial structures, stations and separate points with appropriate facilities, rolling stock (cars and locomotives), power supply devices, special means of regulating and ensuring traffic safety and managing the transportation process.

The railway track is a subgrade with a ballast prism made of crushed stone or gravel, on which reinforced concrete or wooden sleepers with steel rails attached to them are placed. The distance between the inner edges of the heads of two parallel rails located on sleepers is called the gauge. In Russia, the CIS countries, the Baltic states and Finland it is 1520 mm. In most European countries, the USA, Canada, Mexico, Uruguay, Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, the railway gauge is 1435 mm. This is the so-called normal or Stephenson gauge. In some countries (India, Pakistan, Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Portugal) railways have two types of broad gauge - 1656 and 1600 mm. In Japan, for example, they use medium and narrow gauge - 1067, 1000 and 900 mm. There are also short-length narrow-gauge railways in Russia.

The length of the railway network is compared, as a rule, by the operational (geographical) length of the main tracks, regardless of their number and the length of other station tracks. The expanded length of railways takes into account the number of main tracks, i.e. the geographical length of a double-track section is multiplied by 2. Double-track insertions on single-track lines are also taken into account. The total length of Russian railways as of January 1, 1995 was 126.3 thousand km. More than 86% of this length is occupied by tracks with heavy steel rails of the P65 and P75 type, laid on wooden (75%) and reinforced concrete (25%) sleepers and, mainly, crushed stone, gravel and asbestos (on the main tracks) ballast. There are more than 30 thousand bridges and overpasses along the entire route, big number tunnels, viaducts and other artificial structures. The length of electrified railway lines is 38.4 thousand km, or 43.8% of the operational length of the network.

There are over 4,700 railway stations on the Russian railway network, which are the main freight and passenger generating points. Large passenger, cargo and marshalling stations have capital buildings and structures - stations, platforms, cargo areas and sites, warehouses, container terminals, loading and unloading mechanisms, branched rail tracks and other devices and equipment.

At large technical stations there are locomotive and carriage depots, enterprises for distance service, signaling and communications, cargo and commercial work, and centers for corporate transport customer service. Freight stations of cities and industrial centers, as a rule, are connected by rail with numerous access railway tracks of industrial, commercial, agricultural and other enterprises and organizations, as well as with existing sea and river ports, oil depots, etc.

Russian railways have a powerful fleet of modern locomotives - electric and diesel locomotives, mainly of domestic production. They carry out almost the entire volume of freight and passenger transportation, including 72.7% with electric and 27.3% with diesel traction. The total fleet of locomotives in the Ministry of Railways system in 1998 was about 20 thousand units. Among them are such powerful freight and passenger six- and eight-axle electric locomotives as VL60, VL80, VL85, as well as ChS7 and ChS4 produced in Czechoslovakia; two-, three- and four-section diesel locomotives TEYU, TE116, TEP60, TEP70, TEP80 and others

with a capacity of 3 to 8 thousand kW or more, shunting diesel locomotives TEM2, TEM7, ChMEZ, etc. Suburban passenger traffic uses electric trains of the ER2, ERZ, ER9P and ER9M types, as well as diesel trains D1, DR1 and DR2. To develop high-speed passenger traffic, the ER200 electric train was created, reaching a speed of 200 km/h. Work is underway to design and produce new locomotives and electric trains capable of achieving a technical speed of 300 km/h (for example, the Sokol high-speed train). The current locomotive fleet provides an average local speed of passenger trains of 47.1 km/h and freight trains of 33.7 km/h. The average technical speed of trains is approximately 15-20 km/h higher than the local speed, which takes into account the time of intermediate stops.

The fleet of freight cars (more than 700 thousand units) consists mainly of four-axle cars of predominantly metal construction with a carrying capacity of 65-75 tons. The structure of the fleet is dominated by gondola cars (41.7%), platforms (10.8%), tanks (11. 9%), including eight-axle and covered wagons (10.2%). The share of specialized rolling stock is insufficient and amounts to 32% of the fleet, including refrigerated cars and tanks. The container system, especially heavy-duty containers for intermodal transport, is still underdeveloped.

The fleet of passenger cars consists of all-metal cars equipped with four- and two-seater compartments, reserved seats or sofas for sitting with combined (electric-coal) heating, fluorescent lighting and air conditioning.

All freight and passenger cars are equipped with an automatic coupler and automatic brakes, over 60% of freight cars and all passenger cars have wheel bogies on roller bearings. In recent years, due to the economic crisis, the replacement and renewal of railway rolling stock has slowed down, as a result of which many cars and locomotives are in operation that have exhausted their service life.

The railway network contains a large number of power supply devices (contact network, traction substations), signaling, centralization and interlocking (signaling), telemechanics and automation, as well as communications equipment. There are information and computing centers on all roads. The main information and computing center of the Ministry of Railways is located in Moscow. Transportation control centers (TCC) are being created, and in large transport hubs - automated dispatch control centers (ADCC) for the transportation process.

The total cost of fixed production assets of Russian railways as of January 1, 1999 was more than 230 billion rubles, of which

59% is the cost of permanent equipment and 34% is the cost of rolling stock. The share of working capital is small: approximately 3% (in industry

25%). The predominance of the cost of permanent devices in the structure of railway funds reflects the specifics of this type of transport, the complexity of its financial situation during a period of decline in transportation volumes and a decrease in revenue receipts, which are insufficient to maintain a significant permanent part of the resources.

Railway transport in Russia is state (federal) property and managed by the Ministry of Railways, which controls 17 railways, which are state transport enterprises. The Ministry of Railways and territorial departments of railways carry out operational and economic management of the activities of lower structures: departments of roads and linear enterprises, locomotive and carriage depots, stations, track distances, communications, power supply, etc. In addition, the industry has a large number industrial, construction, trade, scientific, design and educational organizations and enterprises, a solid social sphere (hospitals, dispensaries, housing stock, etc.). In recent years, railways have gained greater economic independence, and many of their industrial and auxiliary enterprises (car repair plants, industrial transport, construction and supply organizations) were separated from the Ministry of Railways system after corporatization and privatization (Zheldorremmash, Vagonremmash, Remputmash, Roszheldorsnab, Zheldorstroytrest, Promzheldortrans, Transrestaurantservice, etc.). Commercial centers and rental enterprises, a banking system, Insurance Company(ZHASO) and other market infrastructure organizations.

Despite the difficult financial situation, a sharp decline in transportation volumes, and limited budgetary funds, thanks to maintaining the integrity of the industry in its core activity (transportation), Russian railways stably satisfy the demand for transport services of cargo-owning enterprises and the population. In fact, they operate on self-financing, making substantial tax contributions to the state budget and ensuring industry profitability at 27.9% (1998). Many technical and economic indicators of the railways’ operation are generally maintained at an average level without sharp fluctuations (Table 4.1).

As you can see, railway transport in Russia as a whole is a profitable sector of the country's national economy. However, the decline in traffic volumes puts railways in difficult conditions. It should be noted that the decline in transportation is associated not only with the economic crisis and a decrease in industrial production, but with increasing competition from other modes of transport, especially road transport.

The result of the decline in transportation volumes is a sharp decrease (almost twofold) in the quality indicators of the railways - the productivity of rolling stock and labor productivity (see Table 4.1). Despite the decrease in the volume of work, the number of workers employed in transportation did not decrease during this period and amounted to almost 1.2 million people. Concern for retaining qualified personnel and social protection of workers is, of course, an important consideration. However, the economic situation requires a more flexible approach to the profitable operation of the industry, especially since labor productivity on domestic railways is several times lower than in developed countries.

From the table 4.1 shows that during the period of market reforms, railway expenses increased without taking into account the denomination of the ruble by 4260 times, and income from core activities - only by 3936 times. This indicates that the reproaches of some cargo owners, especially the fuel and raw materials complex, about excessively high railway tariffs that hinder the development of these industries are unfounded. However, recently, through the conclusion of inter-industry business agreements and the introduction of flexible tariffs taking into account the cost of goods

and the transport component in the price of products, this problem is solved positively.

Despite financial difficulties, in railway transport

technical reconstruction and electrification of certain

Table 4.1

Technical and economic indicators of railway operation

Index	1990	1995	1996	1997	1998
Cargo transported, million tons	2140,0	1024,5
Freight turnover, billion tariff tons km	2523,0	1213,7
Average transportation distance, km
Average freight density, million tons km/km	25,2	16,0	15,0	14,8 .	13,5

Average daily locomotive productivity, thousand tons km gross		802,0

Average productivity of a freight car per day, t km, net per 1 t of carrying capacity	134,9	116,4	121,5	120,2	121,0

Weight of cargo. trains, t gross
				54,8	56,9	57,3	57,5	57,8

Average population g.che	32,0	29,4	29,0	28,8	28.2
Number of workers employed in transportation, thousand people.	1119,2	1158,5

Revenue from transportation, billion rubles	25,0 2,7			91511 721	98,4* 1,1*
Income from other types of activities, billion rubles.
Basic expenses. activities billion rubles	18,2				77,6*

Profit for all types of activities, billion rubles.	7,6		-1247		21,9*
Cost of transportation, rub./10 pr. t km	0,044	390,5	635,6	661,9	0,596*
Income rate for freight transportation, rub./10 t km	0,060	420,8	627,2	714,9	0,757*

Profitability, %	40,7	26,1	-1,5	9,7	27,9

* In denominated terms

plots on a small scale and new railway construction. The Amur-Yakutsk highway is being built from Berkakit to Yakutsk (500 km), a line from Labytnanga to Bovanenkovo on the Yamal Peninsula, etc. A program has been developed for the construction of a high-speed highway St. Petersburg-Moscow parallel to the existing line. A lot of work is being done to reconstruct and build railway stations, create centers for branded transport services for cargo owners, increase the number of branded passenger trains, develop suburban transportation, introduce double-decker passenger cars, etc.

The measures taken by the state to improve the economy will help stabilize transportation volumes and improve the performance of Russian railways. This will also be facilitated by closer interaction between the roads of the CIS countries, which have developed for many decades as a single infrastructure complex. Currently active work on railway integration former USSR is led by the CIS Railway Transport Council.

Railway transport today is the leading among universal types of passenger and cargo transportation in many large countries of the world, including Russia. This is due, first of all, geographical features. In long-distance areas, traveling by rail is convenient, economical, and relatively safe.

Surface rail transport has roots in the distant past. It is known that in ancient times people did not have the need to move large cargo. Everything that was needed was carried on oneself. With the development of civilization, transport also improved. Rafts and then boats were used on the water. On land there are carts drawn by animals.

Appeared around the 16th century. Back then, wooden planks were used to deliver goods from mines and mines. But, as you know, wood is not a material of the highest strength. Over long distances and long time It was impossible to carry out such transportation. The science of the past has found a way out. But the first above-ground rail track also had industrial significance. It was intended to transport coal from the mines to the villages of Wollaton and Strelley near Nottingham. And already in the 18th century, the first Russian cast-iron track with a length of 160 meters saw the light of day.

At first, only wide railway tracks were built in the world. Practical ones appeared only in the 19th century. They quickly gained recognition and distribution. Soon, narrow gauge railways began to be used not only between raw material bases and industrial enterprises. They connected remote areas of various countries with their economic centers.

In the twentieth century, the development of railway transport went through different stages. In the last years of Tsarist Russia, narrow-gauge railways were actively built. After the revolution and with the emergence of the USSR, there was a certain calm. The Stalin era gave a new impetus to Russia. They became the famous "camp lines". After the collapse of the Gulag system, narrow-gauge railways ceased to be actively built. In general, such railways were used on a large scale in Russia until the 1900s.

Today, in most countries of the world, railway transport is divided into industrial, urban (trams) and general use (passenger, intercity freight). Modern compositions bear little resemblance to their predecessors from the 19th century. The history of railway transport is a two-century journey from the first steam locomotive in 1803 through electric and diesel locomotives of the early twentieth century to and. Today there is equipment for civilian and military purposes.

The history of the development of railway transport includes the names of engineers and mechanics from different countries: (Scotland), (France), (England), (England), (Russia), (England), Rudolf Diesel (Germany), Russian engineers, inventors, many others.

Today, many countries are connected by a network of railways. You can get by train to almost any European state, the pearls of the Middle East. The Indochinese railway network connects Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, and Singapore. Trains run along the Northern, South America, Africa, Arabian Peninsula, Haiti, Philippine Islands, Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Madagascar, Cuba, Fiji, Jamaica, Japan. And progress in the field of railway transport is confidently moving forward.

Since the wooden canvas quickly deteriorated, this prompted the inventors to turn to more durable materials, such as iron or cast iron. But the modernization did not end there; due to the frequent derailment of carts, unique edges (edges) were invented.

The idea of creating rail transportation came to the minds of representatives of mankind back in ancient times. So, in Ancient Greece there was a so-called diolk, which was a stone path along which heavy ships were dragged across the Isthmus of Corinth. Then, deep gutters acted as guides, in which runners lubricated with animal fat were placed.

Initially, the railway track was very wide. This was due to the fact that long distance between the wheels was considered safer, since the narrow gauge has long been considered much more prone to emergency situations involving derailments and overturning of wagons. Therefore, the first narrow-gauge railways began to appear only several decades after the appearance of their broad-gauge “brothers.”

Already by the beginning of the 20th century, a fairly impressive number of narrow gauge railways existed in the vastness of Russia. Mainly intended use of this type The railway track was quite narrow - narrow-gauge railways were widely used for transporting peat and wood. In the future, it is these railway lines that will become the basis for the formation of narrow-gauge railways in our state.

There were quite a few people in Great Britain who considered railway transport very promising, but besides them there were also ardent opponents of the construction of railways. And then, when the question arose about the construction of a new railway line connecting Manchester and Liverpool, a great many rumors and discussions arose about this.

On land close to the city of Darlington, there were a huge number of coal mines, from which coal was delivered to Stockton (a city on the Tees) and from there it reached the ports North Sea. This transportation was initially carried out in carts driven by horses, which took quite a lot of time and was very unproductive.

Over time, it became clear that the transportation of passengers and goods by rail are two incommensurably different things. So different that they require not only various types carriages as part of a train, but also completely different locomotives. If smooth ride and performance are of paramount importance to passengers high speed, then during cargo transportation priority is given to power and a high level of traction force.

In the thirties of the 19th century, vast lands on the territory of the then Perm province belonged to a breeder named Ivan Demidov. These were iron and copper smelters, as well as iron manufacturing plants and mines. In total, about forty thousand souls of serfs worked for the landowner Demidov, one of whom was Efim Cherepanov.

England became the birthplace of the first public railway line, and this is where the form of transport known as the Underground Railroad originated. There were several prerequisites for the construction of the subway. The main one is considered to be the fact that already in the first half of the 19th century in London, people learned and experienced the meaning of the concept of “street traffic jams”.

The Newcomen steam engine was once successfully used to pump water in mines and ship repair facilities, which lasted for more than 50 years. At the same time, this entire structure had impressive dimensions and required constant replenishment of coal reserves. At times, up to 50 horses had to be used to supply the steam engine with fuel. In general, everything indicated that this unit required improvement; the only question was who would come up with this idea first.

This unit, invented by the Frenchman Nicolas-José Cugnot, was a fairly large design. Three wheels were attached to the large platform, which became the first prototype of both a steam locomotive and a car, with the front one acting as a steering wheel. A steam boiler was also fixed in the area of the front wheel, and next to it was a two-cylinder steam engine. There was also a seat for the driver, and the “body” of the cart was intended for transporting military cargo.

The history of modern steam locomotives is integrally connected with the first experiments in creating compact steam engines. The famous English engineer James Watt achieved great success in this matter at the end of the 18th century. Its mechanisms were used in many industries and for the purpose of pumping water from mines.

Many people mistakenly believe that it was George Stephenson who first invented and designed the modern steam locomotive. However, this is not so, the English engineer entered world history technicians as the first person who managed to prove the undeniable advantage of steam locomotive transport over horse traction.

The works of father and son Cherepanov became a bright page in the history not only of Russian technology, but also had great importance for the entire nascent steam locomotive industry. And it all started with the design of steam engines, the first of which had a power of only 4 horsepower. The elder Cherepanov, Efim, was greatly influenced by a trip to England, where he was able to see Stephenson’s steam brainchild with his own eyes.

The creators of the first mechanisms moving on rails were very worried that the smooth wheels of their units would begin to slip and lose traction with the railway track. And, despite the fact that by that time the Trevithick steam locomotive had already been designed, which successfully transported passengers and cargo, experiments in this direction continued.

The first internal combustion engine used to move a locomotive was designed by the German engineer Gottlieb Daimler. A demonstration of the new moving mechanism was made on September 27, 1887. Residents of Stuttgart and guests of the city could observe with their own eyes the movement of a motrice with a narrow-gauge transmission, which was driven by a two-cylinder internal combustion engine.

For a long time, locomotive manufacturers competed and collaborated to determine their optimal design and unit layout. In the 20s of the twentieth century, work was carried out in the young Soviet republic to create two vehicles at once for transporting goods and passengers. These were the diesel locomotives of Gakkel and Lomonosov.

After the end of World War II, many industrial giants gradually began to reorient themselves towards products of a peaceful nature. At this time, diesel traction, which is more profitable from an economic point of view, continues to push out steam locomotive traction on all fronts. In the United States of America, the leading position in the field of diesel locomotive construction is occupied by General Motors. Along with another technical “monster”, General Electric, this North American manufacturer is still one of the industry’s flagships today.

Before the main attention of the Russian diesel locomotive industry was focused on the implementation of the ideas of Yakov Gakkel and Yuri Lomonosov, many projects were considered in scientific circles. Some of the developments grew into prototypes, and some remained on paper; today history remembers both of them.

The idea of using electrical energy to power machines that make mechanical work, appeared quite a long time ago. Thus, back in 1834, researcher Jacobi designed an electric motor with a rotating armature; subsequently, his developments had a great influence on the development of ideas of electric traction.

Even the carriages that Russian empire purchased abroad, I still had to redo and adapt to local conditions. After all, carriages abroad were intended for travel over fairly short distances with frequent stops and for use in countries where the climate was significantly milder than in Russia.

Even during the construction of the very first public railway, laid between Manchester and Liverpool, some ill-wishers talked about the project leader, George Stephenson, that he started this whole construction only in order to find practical use steam locomotives manufactured at Stephenson's personal locomotive plant.