Purpose. The aim of the work is a comprehensive analysis of the current state of affairs and the main problems in the interaction between railways and seaports in the organization of freight traffic, as well as possible ways of solving these problems. Methodology. In the process of research, the methods of analysis and synthesis were used to study the content and the main provisions of scientific publications on the issues of establishing effective interaction between rail and sea transport, in particular, when organizing export traffic, with their subsequent comparison and generalization; methods of statistical analysis and forecasting to determine the existing and future traffic volumes in the rail-water communication, taking into account the unevenness. Results. Export is one of the main sources of filling the state budget of Ukraine, accounting for a third of its GDP. More than 60% of export cargoes go through Ukrainian ports; while 75% of export volumes are delivered to ports by rail. In recent years, the existing system of interaction between railways and seaports is increasingly showing its ineffectiveness, which results in an increase in the delivery time of goods, a deterioration in the operation of rolling stock, and an increase in the cost of transportation. One of the reasons for this situation is the inconsistency of the existing capacity of the port railway infrastructure with modern operating conditions, which are characterized by a change in the economic model, a change in the directions and structure of cargo flows, and the active development of port terminals. An effective way to solve the problem of reducing the imbalance in the processing capacity of ports and the pre-port railway infrastructure is public-private partnership in the implementation of appropriate investment projects, the assessment of which should be carried out using modern scientific approaches. Scientific novelty. The results obtained as a result of the study make it possible to provide a scientific basis for the further development of public-private partnerships for the development of railway pre-port infrastructure. Practical significance. The development of the infrastructure of pre-port railway stations and sections at the expense of public-private investments will increase the efficiency of logistics of freight transportation in rail-water communication, reduce their cost and, accordingly, increase the competitiveness of Ukrainian goods in foreign markets.