Soviet Railways to Russian Railways

262 Pages·2002·2.852 MB·English

by  J. N. Westwood (auth.)

Studies in Russian and East European History and Society
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Soviet Railways to Russian

Railways

J. N. Westwood
Honorary Research Fellow
Centre for Russian and East European Studies
University of Birmingham
in association with
the Centre for Russian
and East European Studies,
University of Birmingham
© J.N. Westwood 2002
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2002 978-0-333-67417-8
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
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Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2002 by
PALGRAVE
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
Companies and representatives throughout the world
PALGRAVE is the new global academic imprint of
St. Martin's Press LLC Scholarly and Reference Division and
Palgrave Publishers Ltd (formerly Macmillan Press Ltd).
ISBN 978-1-349-39921-5 ISBN 978-0-230-28587-3 (eBook)

DOI 10.1057/9780230285873
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and
made from fully managed and sustained forest sources.
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Westwood, J. N.
Soviet railways to Russian railways / J. N. Westwood.
p. cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-349-39921-5

1. Railroads-Russia (Federation) 2. Post-communism-
Economic aspects. I. Title.
TF85.W47 2001
385'.0947-dc21
2001036887
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02
Contents

Preface viii

Part I Restructuring the Old Railway 1

1 The Soviet Legacy 3

The Old Regime 3

The market economy 7

The view from the Ministry 12

An editorial view 14

2 New Frontiers 18

Partition 18

The Railway Transport Council 21

Russia loses its ports 25

The freightcar share-out 26

The Extra-territorial Trans-Sib 29

Constructive inertia 30

3 Privatisation 31

First steps 31

The railway repair works 34

Industrial railways 38

The frst private railway 39

A new railway law 41

Defender of the faith 42

Privatisation of railway catering 43

Fadeev's last stand 47

4 The Zaitsev Interregnum 50

The man 50

Zaitsev as Minister 52

Restructuring the railways 54

The Canadian National model 58

Merging the railways 62

Zaitsev in retreat 66

5 Rethinking Restructuring 68

The new Minister 68

Purge on the October Railway 70

v
vi Contentf
New pressures for privatisation 77

The tariff argument 78

The freightcar issue 80

Competing proposals 82

The natural monopolies service proposal 83

The Railway Ministry's concept 84

Finalising the reform 88

Part II Operating the New Railway 93

6 Freight in the Market Economy 95

Traffc 95

1995: a key year 96

A New Railway Charter 97

Freight forwarders 99

Marketing 104

Premium freight centres 105

The railway banks 111

The Reffervif failure 114

The mail service competes 118

Intermodal services 119

Cherepovets; plans and realities 119

Container traffc 121

The rolling highway 128

Trans-Sib 130

7 Passenger Service in the Market Economy 134

Traffc 134

Fares and fare collection 135

Commuter subsidies 138

Cost reduction 140

Commuter services 141

Passenger companies 142

Long-distance passenger services 146

The Passenger Time Book 149

8 The High-Speed Railway 152

First thoughts 152

The October Railway and the HST 157

High speed, snail's pace 159

The author as primary source 162
Contentf vii
9 Money Problems 166

Ingoings and outgoings 166

Tariffs 170

The debt problem 185

Taxation 191

10 Crime and Violence 196

Bribery and fraud 196

Theft 201

Smash and grab 207

'A real Russian mess' 208

The 'rail war' 211

Accidents 213

Sinking the 'Avrora' 217

Vandalism 219

11 The New Century 221

Restructuring in retrospect 221

Equipment 226

Infrastructure 228

Labour 229

Notef 232

Bibliography 249

Index 251
Preface

Falling between two stools is seldom accomplished with elegance.
This book attempts to interest two distinct readerships - those in-
terested in contemporary Russia and those interested in railways -
and this is refected in its ungainly structure, which is designed to
aid those for whom some parts of the text will have scant interest.
For those interested in the frst decade of post-Soviet Russia this
book offers a narrative, with comments, about how a major and
vital industry weathered the gales generated as the new leaders of
governments and new leaders of opinion sought to create a market
economy. That the railways in their size and signifcance were ex-
ceptional does not necessarily mean that their experience has no
relevance to the study of other parts of Russian society and indus-
try. In places, the book implies that the course taken by the railways
might have advantageously been taken by other Russian industries
and institutions.
For those interested in railway development, the Russian rail-
ways have always provided a useful subject for international
comparisons; they have followed the trends of contemporary tech-
nology but at a certain remove, with their own particularities. Soviet
Railways showed how far a railway system could be pushed. Post-
Soviet railways have shown a railway system simultaneously coping
with the political disintegration of its territory and the introduc-
tion of a completely new social and economic framework.
Concurrently, railways the world over have been undergoing their
own reappraisals, with debates over privatisation, over separation
of infrastructure from operations, over the role of information tech-
nology. Here again, Russian railways are responding to the new
universal currents, but in their own particular, and therefore in-
structive, way.
Convention dictates that the last paragraph of the Preface should
express thanks to those who helped, and absolve them from any
defects of the book. In the case of Birmingham University's Centre
for Russian and East European Studies, and the library of the St
Petersburg Transportation University, this is easily and gladly done,
for their members have offered help and hospitality which always
seemed a little more than had been hoped for. Likewise, the reader
viii
Preface ix
should be grateful for the efforts of Holland Hunter and Arfon Rees,
who have suggested several improvements, both of substance and
of syntax. No thanks are due, however, to the distributors of re-
search funds, public and private, for despite an effort which at times
approached that put into the book itself, no fnancial aid has been
forthcoming. Attribution, rather than absolution, of responsibility
for defciencies would therefore seem more appropriate here.
�.N. �EST�OOD
Bir�ingha�