Features of integration of low-density lines with main railway lines

Low-density railway lines (LDRL) make up almost 1/5 (15,353 km) (18.2 %) of the total length of Railways of JSC "Russian Railways". Currently, the operation of LDRLs in countries of Europe and in Russia is very expensive. This is due to the large number of manual management operations and the excessive need for staff. The solution to the problem of efficiency of use of LDRL in the conditions of market economy is one of the priority tasks facing the transport industry. Despite the fact that LDRL are poorly loaded (on average 3.5 pairs of trains per day) and, therefore, unprofitable, their content is subject to almost the same requirements as for the mainlines, including reporting requirements. The stationmaster and staff of LDRL are overloaded the reporting documentation. This requires the performance of work on the revision of the technology, standards of service and operating procedures LDRL. The purpose of the study is to reduce costs for the main types of activities by changing the technology of maintenance and operation of LDRL. The subject of this study is the operation and maintenance of the LDRL network of JSC "Russian Railways". The methodology of the conducted research is based on the system analysis and scientific generalization of domestic and foreign experience in operation and maintenance of LDRL. The article highlights the technological features of operation of the LDRL. The classification of lines with low-intensity traffic has been developed and the criteria for their assignment to the proposed types have been determined. The peculiarities of the organization of movement of trains, passenger and freight work for the LDRL of various types are presented.