Purpose. To improve the method for calculating the time standard for shunting cars from track to track in order to take into account the local operating conditions of railway stations and railway sidings. Methodology. During the research, the methods of theory of railway operation were used. The problem of calculating the time standard for shunting operation was solved as the problem of searching the optimal division of train set into the car groups to achieve minimal time consumption for shunting operation. Findings. In the course of the study, the methods for calculating the time standards for initial and final operations, as well as movements performed when shunting cars from track to track were improved. It was proved that the minimum time spent on shunting cars from track to track was achieved when the train set was divided into the minimum possible number of parts and the cars were shunted in the longest possible groups and one remaining group. It was also established that with sufficient accuracy for engineering problems the duration of shunting train set from track to track can be represented by the piecewise linear function of the car number in it. Originality. The work originality consists in improving the method for calculating the time standard for shunting cars from track to track, that, unlike the existing one, takes into account the length limitations of the car groups being shunted from track to track, as well as the actual composition of operations performed in the process of shunting. Practical value. The use of the developed method allows setting time standards for shunting cars from track to track, taking into account the local operating conditions of railway stations and sidings of industrial enterprises. The method also makes it possible to simplify solving problems of searching the optimal order of performing more complex shunting operations, such as sorting cars into several tracks, collecting cars on one track, train formation, and others.