RUSSIA: The Ministry of Transport has approved technical standards for the piggyback transport of lorries, trailers and cars by rail, including the adoption of a standard floor height of 1 100 mm above the rail head.
The regulations follow trials which Federal Freight Co undertook on the Moscow – Novosibirsk – Yekaterinburg route in November 2016 using Type 13-9961 flat wagons.
Earlier this year Federal Freight Co selected UVZ as its partner for the development of a four-axle 23·5 tonne axleload piggyback wagon and a loading platform, with orders for around 1 300 wagons envisaged. The operator plans to launch regular piggyback services from autumn 2018, with traffic predicted to reach 10 000 to 12 000 wagons per month in 2019-20.
