20th anniversary of Russian Railways

23 billion
people transported by the Company over 20 years

On October 1, 2003, Open Joint Stock Company Russian Railways was established in accordance with a decree of the Russian Government.

This event marked the beginning of a remarkable journey – from the Ministry of Railways to a modern, competitive, and high‑tech company, one of the largest in Russia. Over the two decades, Russian Railways has undertaken large‑scale efforts to consolidate, preserve, and develop the railway industry.

For 20 years, Russian Railways has maintained its status as the backbone transportation company in Russia, accounting for 47.2% of freight and 24.1% of passenger traffic in the country.

The modernisation of the railways stimulates the opening of new facilities, growth in output, and job creation – this is how the Company contributes to the development of the national economy.

Results of the anniversary year

Russian Railways Group’s positions globally

No. 1

Precise schedule for passenger trains
Traffic density
Freight turnover
The railway network in Russia operates around 1.3 m freight cars. Russian Railways Group accounts for more than a fifth of global railway freight turnover

No. 2

Operational length of railways
The operational length of railways stands at around 86,000 km, more than twice the length of the equator

New records set:

288.2 mt
of freight handling in the Eastern direction

2,464 m tkm
per day of loaded freight turnover in the Eastern Operating Domain

> 7.4 m TEU
of total container shipments (including 5.4 m TEU of loaded container shipments)

640,400
passengers transported on 22 February 2023 on the Moscow Central Circle, a record high daily traffic

RUB 1,232.8 bn
in Russian Railways’ record investment programme

3,295 km
of the main quantum communications network

122.0 million long‑haul passengers were transported, a record high since 2009.

>53,600 cars were unloaded every day, the best result of the decade.