Russian official calls for no hurry in locomotive liberalization

SOCHI, Jun 3 (PRIME) -- Russia should not hurry with liberalization of locomotive traffic, as a transfer of routes to private operators can worsen the financial state of Russian Railways, Deputy Economic Development Minister Nikolai Podguzov told reporters on the sidelines of a business forum Friday.

“This decision should not be taken rapidly. The introduction of a two-part tariff should precede this decision,” he said.

“If we spin off locomotives into a separate company now and give them to operators, we risk that these operators will service the most profitable routes, while Russian Railways will keep the most unprofitable routes. And then Russian Railways will have a poor financial result. That’s why I would not hurry with this issue.”

At present, Russian Railways has almost entire Russian fleet of locomotives.

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