OREANDA-NEWS. October 04, 2010. "In the first eight months of 2010, the total volume of large-tonnage containers on the Trans-Siberian Railway increased by 23%, of which international freight grew 45%", Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin said in his speech at a plenary session of the Coordinating Council on Transsiberian Transportation (CCTT) in Bratislava (Slovakia), reported the press-centre of Russian Railways.

He said the resurgence in freight volumes this year is a source of optimism.

"Despite tougher competition from sea and road transport, Russian and foreign companies are working successfully despite the economic crisis to maintain and even expand freight volumes, and are achieving positive results with their new projects", Vladimir Yakunin said.

The Russian Railways president singled out the work of the CCTT with European and Asian companies to attract transit freight to the Trans-Siberian. In particular, an agreement was reached on stepping up the work of the Trans-Siberian Intermodal Operators Association of Japan (TSIOAJ), the Korea International Freight Forwarders Association (KIFFA), and the European Transsiberian Operators’ Association (GETO) to attract additional freight flows to the Trans-Siberian Railway from Japan and South Korea to Europe, and vice versa.

A regular container train service has now been launched on the China – Europe – China route, in order attract additional container freight. TransContainer is involved in this project as an operator, providing container transport services on the Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian rail networks.

The Trans-Eurasia Logistics Company (a joint venture between Deutsche Bahn Mobility, Polzug and Kombiferker) is continuing its work to organize container freight services on international routes.

Since June 2010, the joint venture has been working, with the support of TransContainer and DB Intermodal, to provide regular container freight services between Duisburg (Germany) and Moscow. To date, 16 container trains have used this route.

Among this year’s new projects, the company president highlighted TransContanier’s container freight services to transport car parts for Fiat from Italy to Russia under a new logistical scheme: from Fiat’s warehouses in Villanova d'Asti and Mozzagrogna via the Dobra terminal to the Tikhonovo station on the Kuybyshevsky railway, for the Sollers-Yelabuga car assembly plant. Previously, from 2007, these parts had been shipped to the Novorossiysk port, and then via rail to Yelabuga. The new scheme shortens the delivery time to nine days.