Loading on the Russian rail network has dropped once more. In April, a total of 92,9 million tonnes of freight was loaded onto trains. That is 8.6% lower than in the same month of 2024. Russian Railways (RZD) attributes the decline mostly to domestic economic conditions.
“The main losses in volumes in January – April are connected to domestic Russian transportation of construction materials (-21.3%), hard coal (-6.4%), and also in the metallurgical transport segment: ferrous metals (-23.3%) and scrap metal (-25.5%) because of the reduction in demand from the side of branches of the economy that use the given products”, writes RZD.
When looking at 2025 as a whole until now, loading has dropped by 6.8% compared to the same period in 2024.
Export to the east
“In the key eastern direction we note a positive export dynamic (+4.1%)”, further elaborates RZD. The export growth is primarily driven by non-coal products (+7.5%). That includes metal ores (+22.3%), fertilisers (+64.1%) and high value-added freight (+12.1%).
Russia is currently struggling with an unprecedented decline in loading on its rail network. In 2024, loading declined by 4.1%. Subsequently, it dropped by 9.3% in February 2025, and continued its fall by 7.2% in March.