RZD to create logistical coordination information center for railway lead-ups to Ust-Luga
MOSCOW. May 25. (Interfax) - OJSC Russian Railways (RZD) plans to create an information center to coordinate logistics on railroad lead-ups to the port of Ust-Luga, the company said in a press release.
"The center's technology should include an interagency information exchange system for railroad and sea carriers, port terminals, freight owners, freight forwarders, governmental supervisory bodies and other participants in the transportation process on the basis of the 'one-window' mechanism," it said.
According to RZD's forecasts, freight turnover at the port of Ust-Luga will expand to 120 million tonnes per year by 2020 (last year, it was 22 million tonnes). At present, the railroad infrastructure's throughput capacity reaches 35 pairs of trains a day, which pans out to around 35-37 million tonnes of cargo transport to the port.
This year, RZD plans to invest 15.1 billion rubles in the project, which have already been included in the budget. However, this is not enough to further develop growing freight flows, RZD President Vladimir Yakunin is quoted as saying in the press release. In this vein, it is necessary to execute decisions "as soon as possible" that were adopted at a meeting with Russian Vice President Sergei Ivanov on March 15, 2011, that order the issuance of an additional 25 billion rubles from the federal budget aimed at developing railroad infrastructure on the lead-ups to the port of Ust-Luga in 2013-2014.
"In addition, in order to reduce this shortage of funds, part of the investments in developing the Luzhskaya-Generalnaya and Luzhskaya-Vostochnaya stations, with spending volumes of roughly 6.2 billion rubles, should be raised with the participation of the owners of neighboring terminals, on the basis of standard contracts for rendering services to join up to RZD infrastructure," the press release said.
In the near future, 41% of export cargo flows will be executed by railway transport in the North-West region. RZD's total investments in the development of railway infrastructure in the Leningrad region will come to 32.6 billion rubles this year (in the period until 2015, that total will reach 183.8 billion rubles).