The Prospects for Improving the Technical State of Rolling Stock on the Railways of Ukraine

Abstract

Purpose. One of the main conditions of the effective and high-quality organization of rail hauling is availability of modern rolling stock. However, the analysis of technical condition confirms its considerable moral and physical deterioration. The main purpose of the article is search of possible ways of improvement of technical condition of the existing car fleet on the railroads of Ukraine. Methodology. The current state of a rail transport not fully meets the modern requirements. For the last decades updating of fixed assets has been provided generally at the expense of own means of the railroads and satisfied the need for capital investments only for 5-6 percent. At the same time, actually since declaration of independence of Ukraine the price growth rates for the products consumed by the railroads exceeded the fare growth rates that did not allow to update in necessary amount and to improve technical condition of the rolling stock. Findings. The article presents the analysis of freight rolling stock of Ukrainian Railways, which showed unsatisfactory condition of the cars. The railway industry today works on the old principles, which do not correspond to the modern world trends in organization of work of railway transport, contribute to the inefficiency of its functioning and impede further development, constraining the inflow of investment to this industry, hamper cooperation with private companies. Insufficient funding and imperfect system of repair and maintenance inhibit the development and reduce the competitiveness of railway transport of Ukraine. However, the implementation of strategic directions of development of the transport sector, a review of the above constraints and using the experience of advanced countries will steer the rail transport out of the crisis. Originality. The authors presented comprehensive consideration of issues to improve the car maintenance system while extending the life of their operation. Practical value. Possible ways to improve the technical condition of rolling stock were researched and proposed. This will allow extending the car lifetime and optimizing the costs of maintenance, depot and major repairs.