{"id":370683,"date":"2026-02-17T18:43:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T08:43:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=69405"},"modified":"2026-02-17T18:43:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T08:43:29","slug":"moscow-resorts-to-urgent-tariff-increase-to-help-the-destitute-russian-railways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=370683","title":{"rendered":"Moscow resorts to urgent tariff increase to help the destitute Russian Railways"},"content":{"rendered":"

Moscow is introducing an \u201curgent\u201d price increase for rail freight services. This decision should help Russian Railways (RZD) cope with its extreme budgetary pressure. Russia is also preparing a far-reaching financial aid package for the rail operator.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>From 1 March, rail freight services on the Russian Railways network will become more expensive by 1%, reports The Moscow Times on the basis of a Russian government decree.<\/p>\n

“Russian Railways is effectively bankrupt and has no chance of getting out of the hole on its own\u201d, The Moscow Times cites Sergey Aleksashenko, a senior research fellow at the NEST Centre in London. Therefore, the government has decided to bail out the monopoly “by all means.”<\/p>\n

Reuters calculated that the tariff increase will add 22.3 billion rubles (around 250 million euros) to RZD\u2019s budget. The measure is applicable for all shippers.<\/p>\n

It is all going downhill<\/h2>\n

Russian Railways has already lost 14% of its rail freight business since the start of Russia\u2019s invasion in Ukraine, says The Moscow Times. RZD has accrued a debt of four trillion rubles (44 billion euros). Between 2022 and 2025, RZD has also lost 12.5% of its loading volume, a figure that the rail operator publishes each month.<\/p>\n