In accordance with the invitation of RZD OAO (Russian Railways) the XXIII Plenary Meeting of the Coordinating Council on Trans-Siberian Transportation international association took place on 4 and 5 September 2014 in Ekaterinburg.
The meeting was attended by about 200 delegates from 18 countries: heads and plenipotentiary representatives of the Ministry of Transport of Russia, Federal Customs Service of Russia, Federal Tariff Service of Russia, CIS, Baltic, European and Asian railways, sea ports of Germany and Estonia, sea shipping companies, international transport organisations, national and international associations of freight forwarders, leading transport and logistics companies.
The meeting addressed the most relevant issues related to the operation of the Trans-Siberian transport corridor, and discussed the latest economic trends in the countries and regions which are adjacent to the Trans-Siberian Route.
The meeting particularly noted the growing importance of China – Europe container services for Trans-Siberian transportation, including services such as Chengdu – Lodz, Chongqing – Duisburg, which have shown increasing volumes since launched, as well as new services including Wuhan – Pardubice and Suzhou – Warsaw. Delegates expressed confidence about the promising prospects of this sector of Trans-Siberian transportation in the near future.
The meeting also discussed the most important infrastructure projects related to the Trans-Siberian Route. The delegates took note of the progress in implementation of the project to reconstruct the Trans-Siberian and Baikal-Amur mainlines, which will serve the growing Euro-Asian freight flows.
Another important infrastructure project in the focus of attention of the delegates was the reconstruction of the Khasan – Rajin railway line, which was completed on 18 July and included the reconstruction of the section connecting the Trans-Korean and Trans-Siberian mainlines and construction of a new cargo terminal in the port of Rajin, which opened a new competitive route for freight transport between the APR and Europe.
The meeting also addressed the progress in the joint project of railways of Austria, Russia, Ukraine and Slovakia to construct a transport corridor to Bratislava – Vienna twin city region. In September 2013 tender documents for the next phase of feasibility study of the project were published.
In the course of the meeting CCTT members adopted new membership lists and work plans for CCTT Working Groups: on Increasing Competitiveness of Trans-Siberian Transportation and on IT Development. According to the proposals of CCTT members, CCTT working groups were requested to address the most relevant and up-to-date issues within their competence.
The delegates were informed of the latest developments on CCTT’s cooperation with international organisations.
The CCTT currently cooperates with OSJD on Europe – Asia high-capacity container traffic, simplification of border crossing procedures for international freight transport by rail and introduction of legally relevant electronic documentation using EDS.
The CCTT’s cooperation with UIC includes joint activities within the UIC Freight Platform (Global Team of Experts) and the UIC Security Platform (Security – BIRC).
On 3 September before the Plenary Meeting a joint meeting with the participation of the CCTT Secretariat and UIC representatives was held. The aim of the meeting was to work out further steps of the common CCTT/UIC project and to designate its executive parties. The participants reached an agreement on the project title: Security Navigation – Control System (SNCS). The project director is Mr Jacques Colliard.
In the course of the meeting the CCTT also approved the work on projects presented by the CCTT Secretariat.
First, the CCTT approved the project entitled The Trans-Siberian Route: Multimodal Euro-Asian Transport Network aiming to facilitate global development of Trans-Siberian transportation. Project Manager: CCTT Deputy Secretary General Natalia Stepanova.
Second, the CCTT approved further activities within the Electronic Train project under CCTT IT WG, managed by Yelena Kunayeva, Director General of RZD Transport Service Centre (CFTO).
Finally, the meeting endorsed the project providing for development and promotion of the Guaranteed Transport and Logistics Product (GTLP) on Eurasian rail routes on the basis of regular international container train services. GTLP Project Manager is Vladimir Padalitsa, Deputy Director General, TransRail – BCh.
Delegates thoroughly analysed the whole range of issues related to Trans-Siberian freight transport, integration of the Trans-Siberian into the Euro-Asian transport network and development of Trans-Siberian services in the present economic situation.
The decisions that were taken at the XXIII Plenary Meeting of the CCTT provide the basis for further improvement of Trans-Siberian transport services and integrated development of the TSR.
