Cargo train build up to paralyze Trans-Sib

A build up of cargo trains waiting to be unloaded in Russian Far East ports is threatening to paralyze the Far Eastern section of the Trans-Siberian railway, RIA Novosti informed.

One hundred and seven cargo trains loaded with fuel are waiting to be unloaded in ports in the Primorye Territory and the Khabarovsk Territory.

Last Monday, nearly 70 trains carrying coal and oil products were standing on sidings in the Primorye Territory. By Friday, their number had risen to 102.

As of November 24, there are 107 trains with a total of 6,500 cars bound for the ports of Vostochny, Krabovaya and Posyet. The weather was the major cause for delays in unloading. In addition, dock workers have failed to deal with growing amounts of cargo.

A week ago it was raining in the Primorye, and then night temperatures dropped below zero. The coal froze together, slowing down the process of unloading.

Heads of the Far Eastern Railway, dock employees, and shipping companies are to hold an emergency meeting at Vostochny on November 27 to discuss ways of dealing with the build up. Far Eastern transport prosecutors have begun their own probe into the incident.

Source: Transportweekly