Global socio-economic trends require a dramatic acceleration of transport links. The creation of new high-speed transport systems is an urgent task, the success of the solution of which largely determines the improvement of the quality of life and the trade and economic development of states, regions, cities. The main strategic goal of the development of the transport system is to meet the needs of society, taking into account the value of time and using innovative factors focused on the effective development of a competitive environment, offering quality transport services based on developed infrastructure, and a high level of application of innovative techniques and technologies. The Russian railways as a transport system need a good restructuring due to the fact that its qualitative characteristics, especially infrastructure, are not able to efficiently solve the existing problems of the global economy. The aim of this article is to study perspective trends for the development of the railway sector in the context of digitalization of the economy.

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Purpose. The article is devoted to estimation of influence of process of development of market of freight cars operation upon operation efficiency indexes of Russia’s railway transport. The existing qualified viewpoints on this issue have been considered. Methodology. For quantitative evaluation, the authors have used comparative analysis methods and econometric modeling based on JSC “RZD” and Federal State Statistics Service data of the period from 2003 till 2016. Results. According to the results of econometric modeling, it has been found out that statistically important influence of development of freight cars operation market upon indexes of operation efficiency of Russia’s railway transport is present only in one part of variable - “amount of deliveries, performed within normative (stipulated) period”. At the same time, indexes of operation efficiency of Russia’s railway transport demonstrate negative dynamics only from 2003 till 2009-12; from then on, most of these indexes have been showing sustainable positive tendency, having recovered from initial negative shock. This kind of shock might be a reaction to change of level of market development of freight cars operation in Russia, but this does not apply to all indexes of operation efficiency of JSC “RZD”.

Background: large-scale plans for the development of Russia's transport infrastructure, including the railroad, require revision and improvement of the modern tariff system; the latter is unthinkable without improving the existing theoretical approaches to pricing in freight rail transport. Aim: development of classification criteria for the evolution of theoretical approaches to pricing in freight rail transport in the XXearly XXI centuries on the basis of the most significant works on this topic; modelling the matching of the current stage of development of these theoretical approaches to modern scientific approaches of determining the economic category "price". Methods: comparative, analysis, synthesis, system approach. Results: we developed a chronological classification of theoretical approaches to pricing in freight rail transport in the XXearly XXI centuries. (with the identification of the correspondence of the stages of development of the theory to the periods of development of railway transport), a classification of the current stage of development of these approaches in the main directions of development, and the model of the matching of the elements of the classification of the current stage of development of these approaches to modern scientific approaches to determining the economic category "price". Conclusion: the developed classifications and the matching model can be used in the future to improve the existing theoretical approaches to pricing in freight rail transport, to develop fundamentally new similar approaches and methods of their application in pricing in practice.

Аннотация: в статье было проведено исследование по выбору параметров вагона-хоппера для перевозки самых массовых зерновых грузов и на основании этого расчет потребного парка. Авторы отмечают экономическую обоснованность покупки специализированных вагонов в том случае, если общая стоимость потребного парка вагонов, которая рассчитывается при увеличении доли «легкого» груза в общем грузообороте, ниже для специализированных вагонов, чем для универсальных.