Minpromtorg agreed on the parameters of the program of updating rail equipment

The Ministry of Industry and Trade plans to launch in 2027 a program to support the renewal of rail equipment on the basis of preferential autoleasing. This was reported to journalists by the head of the department Anton Alikhanov.

According to him, the mechanism and main parameters of the program have already been agreed. “We envisage its implementation (mechanism). — RBC) on the basis of the program of preferential autoleasing, in 2027 we will expand it at the expense of rail equipment, — Alikhanov told reporters on the question about the development of the trade-in mechanism in railway engineering (quoted by “Interfax”).

According to Alikhanov, budget funds for the program are provided, but it is too early to talk about their final volume. “We continue to work within the current budget cycle,” the minister added.

The fact that the introduction of the trade-in mechanism for the purchase of innovative, increased load capacity, freight cars is “conceptually agreed”, the press service of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of RBC reported in February this year.

According to the representative of the Ministry, the implementation of the scheme will depend on “budgetary opportunities”. "At the moment, the relevant sources are being analyzed," he said. According to two sources in the railcar industry, as of the beginning of the year, the decision was postponed until March.

Union “Association of wagon builders” (OVS) requested for the implementation of the program 10 billion rubles. annually, its duration is three years, said its Chairman Yevgeny Semenov. The configuration developed by the OVS and sent to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (RBC got acquainted with the document) at the end of 2025 suggests that subsidies from the budget should be provided in the amount of 700 thousand rubles. per unit of innovative equipment purchased instead of two standard cars. The latter are scrapped either at the manufacturer of the new car, or in special organizations with the installation of a ban on the subsequent sale and commissioning of spare parts of the dismantled car. The residual service life of rolling stock delivered shall be at least three years.

According to Semenov, the described scheme and parameters are still relevant today. “Nothing has changed,” he said in response to a question. He also confirmed that the introduction of the program is scheduled for 2027, namely the first quarter.

According to the OVS, such "discounts" to buyers of cars will allow to sell at least 14 thousand innovative cars in 2027. This is aimed at redistributing large-scale write-offs in 2032-2035 to an earlier period in order to prevent a shortage of production capacities and increase the workload of enterprises in the sector. The introduction of trade-in will also help accelerate the removal of the “extra” fleet from the infrastructure of Russian Railways, which the carrier has been actively working on for the past two years.

In 2025, the volume of production of Russian railcar builders fell by almost a third after the record level of the previous year, to 52.7 thousand units, follows from Rosstat data. Such dynamics is due, among other things, to a decline in demand from park owners, who are also in a difficult situation due to a decrease in freight work due to a decline in loading on the Russian Railways network (for the nine months of 2026, it decreased by 0.7% year-on-year, to 824.4 million tons) and wagon rental rates. For the three quarters of this year, the production of freight cars amounted to 31.3 thousand units, 25% lower than in the same period last year, the OVS estimated. The output of typical gondola cars fell by 39%, to 11.1 thousand units, innovative (25 tons) - by 19%, to 9.9 thousand units. Thus, the share of production of the latter in this segment reached 89%.

According to RBC in Russian Railways, the company supports the transition to innovative rolling stock, which allows a smaller fleet to transport large volumes of cargo. One of the mechanisms of optimization and renewal of the park can be trade-in.

RBC sent requests to the press services of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Transport.