OREANDA-NEWS Russian railway car owners and operators prefer to purchase outdated models, which does not solve the problem of an excessive fleet. This was stated by the head of the company Oleg Belozerov at the final meeting of the Board of Russian Railways, Interfax reports.

According to him, the surplus of railcars on the Russian Railways networks is still at a very high level — almost 200 thousand units. However, optimization alone is not enough, outdated models should be replaced with innovative ones — these are eight-axle gondola cars and tanks based on rigid coupling, introduced to the market in 2025.

Belozerov suggested that without adjusting the existing standards for the service life of freight wagons and incentive measures, it would not be possible to achieve the transition of operators to new models, and for this the government's help is needed. He expressed the hope that the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Industry and Trade will contribute to the processes this year.