Eastbound transit transport of cars to be moved from road to rail

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Plans are being made to move a considerable part of the transit transport of cars across Southern Finland to Russia from road ro rail.
      The Finnish rail operator VR and its Russian cooperation partners plan to move a total of 100,000 cars from road to rail in 2008 or 2009. Later on the proportion is expected to be as much as one-third of all transports.
      Finland is the most important route for new cars from Germany to Russia. Last year, a total of 530,000 cars were transported over the border, and only a small percentage of them were moved by train.
     
Train transports will be possible, as the new logistical operator RailTransAuto will focus on a network of their own specialized terminals across Russia.
      The construction of such terminals means that the railways plan to capture part of the mushrooming transit transport. In addition to cars, VR and its Russian partners plan to seize one-third of the container transport volume as well.
      These changes should alleviate to some extent the traffic problems caused by the chronic backlog of trucks at the Finnish-Russian border. In fact, one in five trucks is loaded with new cars, while the proportion of container traffic is around 25%.
     
RailTransAuto is building car terminals in the Russian hinterland, including Moscow, the Urals region, and Siberia, as well as in some ports, including Kaliningrad and the coast of the Sea of Japan. In addition, the company will buy thousands of car transporter wagons within the next few years.
      When the teminal in Moscow is completed next year, a total of 230,000 cars per year can be transported through it. As the demand for cars is growing steadily in Russia, the new capacity will be needed badly. However, according to Viktor Ivanov, the CEO of RailTransAuto, Finland will have a key role in the eastbound truck traffic even in the future.
     
Even large investments will not provide any guarantee of success unless various customs formalities and duties can be kept in check.
      Rail transport is more reliable and secure than road transport, but it cannot compete with the trucks on price at present.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Parking area for eastbound trucks to cost over EUR 24 million (27.3.2007)
  Russia-bound cargo on Finnish roads is growing dramatically (8.2.2006)
  Russian company to begin large-scale rail transport of cars (20.2.2007)

Links:
  RailTransAuto

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