Russian Railways network loading fell 1.4% in October 2026 to 95.6 million tonnes

According to operational data, loading on the Russian Railways network in October 2026 was 95.6 million tonnes, 1.4% less than in the same period a year earlier. Freight turnover in October rose 2.5% year on year to 218.3 billion tariff tonne-km; including empty wagon runs, it increased 0.5% to 265.6 billion tonne-km.

In January–October 2026, loading was 920 million tonnes, down 0.8% from the same period a year earlier. Freight turnover rose 1.1% to 2 trillion 86.3 billion tariff tonne-km; including empty wagon runs, it was 2 trillion 561.2 billion tonne-km, matching the level of the same period a year earlier.

By commodity, January–October loading included 273 million tonnes of coal (+1.6%), 7.7 million tonnes of coke (−6.1%), 150.5 million tonnes of oil and oil products (−7.9%), 88.2 million tonnes of iron and manganese ore (−1.6%), 39.4 million tonnes of ferrous metals (−7%), 6.8 million tonnes of ferrous scrap (+7.7%), 57.5 million tonnes of chemical and mineral fertilizers (−1.7%), 17.5 million tonnes of cement (−1.5%), 20.1 million tonnes of timber cargo (−4.2%), 27.4 million tonnes of grain (+34.7%), 82 million tonnes of construction cargo (−3.4%), 15.3 million tonnes of non-ferrous ore and sulphur raw materials (+5.7%), 15.8 million tonnes of chemicals and soda (−5.2%), and 21.1 million tonnes of industrial raw materials and moulding materials (−6.5%). Other cargoes, including containerized cargo, totaled 97.6 million tonnes (+6%).

In October, loading of metallurgical cargo rose: ferrous metals by 8.7%, non-ferrous ore by 9.8%, coke by 21.1% and scrap by 22.5%; cement shipments also increased by 9% and chemicals by 9.4%. Among the railways, loading growth was provided by Kuybyshev (+22.1%), Zabaykalsk (+13.9%), Oktyabrskaya (+5.6%), Far Eastern (+5.1%) and Gorky (+4.7%).