Taking into account the difficulties with which the stage of liberalization of the market for the provision of railcars took place, JSC “Russian Railways” is extremely balanced about reforming the locomotive complex.
Locomotive industry is probably one of the most technically complex and capital-intensive in the industry, more than 30% of all resources are concentrated here. Today it is a system of independent structures united by the logic of contractual relations. Traction Directorate, Traction Rolling Stock Repair Directorate, design bureau, service companies, locomotive repair and locomotive-building plants provide verified management of the entire process of the locomotive life cycle.
Thanks to the transformations carried out, it became possible to assess the real impact of each division on reliability, traffic safety, and economic performance of traction when optimizing locomotive management mechanisms by eliminating intermediate links.
A qualitative breakthrough in the work of the traction complex came when, with the support of the Government of the Russian Federation, domestic locomotive construction was actually restored, and the volume of purchases of new locomotives increased from several dozen to eight hundred units per year.
Today, the entire necessary line of modern and efficient locomotives has been created – electric locomotives “Ermak”, “Granit”, “Donchak”, mainline locomotives, shunting locomotives, locomotives running on gas fuel are being tested.
New solutions have been developed to change the structure of repair cycles, the list and frequency of work. A model of an optimized four-link locomotive repair system has been tested, including maintenance, current, depot and factory repairs. Already at the pilot project stage, this makes it possible to reduce operating costs by up to 23%, and use the saved funds to improve the quality and reliability of locomotives.
A significant renewal of the locomotive fleet and the appearance of cars with improved characteristics predetermined the development of new, previously inaccessible technologies related to the organization of heavy traffic.
In addition, special attention should be paid to the integration of heavy traffic with the technologies of the access roads of large enterprises. Systematic work is needed to prepare loading and unloading sites, weighing facilities, car dumpers, greenhouses. And it is carried out in close cooperation with the local executive authorities, owners of non-public roads, shippers and consignees.