Economic efficiency of railway infrastructure development in the context of transport corridor development in the Russian Far East

Abstract

Abstract. This article examines the economic efficiency of developing railway infrastructure in the Russian Far East in the context of the formation of international transport corridors. The relevance of the topic is due to the radical reorientation of foreign trade flows to eastern destinations after 2022, which has led to an unprecedented load on the Baikal-Amur and Trans-Siberian Railways and an exacerbation of the shortage of carrying capacity in the Eastern Polygon. Based on an analysis of statistical data for the period 2000–2026, as well as the provisions of the Transport Strategy of the Russian Federation, structural changes in the operation of rail transport in the macrogreion are identified. The author finds that the dynamics of gross value added in transport is determined primarily by the national component, and investments do not yield symmetrical returns in relation to the industry's output due to the infrastructural nature of transport. Institutional mechanisms for regulating transportation in the Eastern Polygon are considered, including regional coal export quotas and the Rules for Non-Discriminatory Access to Infrastructure, and their impact on the balance of supply and demand for carrying capacity is demonstrated. Changes in the structure of freight flows are analyzed: the share of container shipments has grown to 50.5% of the total volume, while coal remains dominant (accounting for up to 90% of the physical volume of export shipments). Promising areas for improving the efficiency of existing infrastructure are considered, including the introduction of innovative rolling stock with increased carrying capacity, digitalization of the transportation process, and the development of multimodal transport hubs. The conclusion is substantiated regarding the need to transition from extensive capacity expansion to intensive infrastructure utilization based on logistics and cluster approaches. The obtained research results can be used in developing management decisions for the development of the Far East transport complex and adjusting state programs for the modernization of railway infrastructure. The analysis shows that the key to improving the economic efficiency of the Far East's railway infrastructure is not so much capacity expansion, but the coordinated development of all links in the transport chain and the improvement of institutional mechanisms for regulating transportation.