In Jan 2017 cargo traffic by rail experienced positive dynamics in Armenia

ArmInfo. In January 2017,  cargo traffic by rail experienced positive dynamics in Armenia. The  cargo traffic plan was fulfilled by 105.9% and the cargo turnover  plan - by 106.5%, South Caucasus Railway (SCR) CEO Sergey Valko said  at a meeting, when summing up the results of the company's  activities.  

Valko noted that a number of important railway events took place in  Armenia in January.  Particularly, a meeting was held with  participation of Iranian businessmen, who discussed the multimodal  transportation from Europe to Iran by means of the SCR   infrastructure.  

He pointed out that export traffic increased by 9.9% as compared to  the targeted indicator, and exceeded the indicator of 2016 by 4.4  thsd tons. Local traffic increased by 30% as compared to last year's  indicator. 

Such qualitative indices as the average weight of the cargo train  (1501 tons versus targeted 1470 tons), the daily mileage and the  locomotive productivity also grew. The service speed reached 36.2  km/h versus the targeted 34 km/h. 

Sergey Valko stressed the need to improve such indicators as the  wagon turnaround and standby load of a car. 

As regards the schedule, he noted that over the period under review  as many as 1,060 trains ran, 1,050 of which met the schedule. He  added that no international passenger train was delayed. 

Valko paid special attention to railway safety issues. He said that  in Jan 2017 the railway appraisal rose by 7 points as compared to Dec  2016. 

The SCR CEO noted that the company has reached agreements on regular  activities of the Kavkaz Port-Poti ferry service (thrice a month),  which will allow launching direct cargo transportation from Armenia  to Russia and CIS countries and back. The SCR efforts will make it  possible to reduce the ferry service tariffs (by almost 2 thsd USD).    

Among the priority tasks for the future, Valko pointed out the need  to increase the cargo traffic, balance the revenues and expenditures  of the budget, etc.  

He stressed the importance of speeding up efforts to fulfill the  transit potential of the Armenian railway for cargo transportation  from Iran to European countries.     

SCR CJSC is the 100% subsidiary of Russian Railways OJSC and the  concessional manager of Armenian Railways under the 13 Feb 2008   agreement, which was signed for 30 years but can be extended for 10   more years.