Terms and Concepts

A carrier is a legal entity or individual entrepreneur which has entered into a contract of carriage by public rail transport to transport passengers and freight entrusted to it by the consignor, luggage or shipped baggage from the point of departure to the designated destination, as well as to release the freight, luggage, or shipped baggage to the person (recipient) authorised to receive it.

Public rail transport infrastructure (hereinafter – the infrastructure) is a technological complex which includes public railway lines and other facilities, railway stations, electric power supply devices, communication networks, signalling, centralisation and blocking systems, information systems, the train management system and other systems and equipment which ensure the functioning of this complex and its buildings, structures, facilities and equipment.

The infrastructure owners are legal entities or individual entrepreneurs which own infrastructure as a result of property rights or other rights and which provide services regarding its use on the basis of the relevant licenses and contracts.

A consignor (sender) is a natural or legal person who, under a contract of carriage, acts on its own behalf or on behalf of the owner of the freight, luggage and shipped baggage and who is indicated in the carriage document.

A consignee (receiver) is a natural or legal person who is entitled to receive the freight, luggage and shipped baggage.

Freight is an object (including articles, objects, minerals, materials, raw materials and industrial and household waste) which has been accepted in the prescribed manner for carriage on freight wagons and containers.

Dangerous goods are those which, by virtue of their inherent properties, can under certain conditions during transport, shunting, handling and storage, cause explosions, fires and chemical or other kind of contamination or damage to the technical facilities, devices, equipment and other objects of rail transport and third parties, as well as endanger the life or health of people and the environment.

Public railway lines are railway lines on the territories of railway stations which are open to perform operations for train receptions and departures, the reception and delivery of freight, luggage and shipped baggage, passenger services and marshalling and shunting operations, as well as the railway lines connecting these stations.

Private railway lines are railway sidings directly adjacent to the public railway lines or accessible to them via other railway sidings which are designed to provide specific users with railway transport services under contractual conditions or to perform work for their own needs.

Owners of private railway lines are legal entities or individual entrepreneurs with the right of ownership or another right to a private line, as well as buildings, structures and facilities and other objects associated with the implementation of transport operations and the provision of railway transport services.

International transportation involving railways consists in direct and indirect international transportation of passengers, freight, luggage and shipped baggage between the Russian Federation and foreign countries, including transit through the territory of the Russian Federation, as a result of which passengers, freight, luggage and shipped baggage cross the state border of the Russian Federation, unless otherwise stipulated by international treaties of the Russian Federation:

Direct international transportation consists in the international transportation of passengers, freight, luggage and shipped baggage between railway stations in different states or several modes of transport in different countries on a single transportation document covering the entire route.

Indirect international transportation consists in the international transportation of passengers, freight, luggage and shipped baggage through train stations and ports located within the border areas on shipping documents completed in the states involved in the transport, as well as transport using several types of transportation on separate documents for each type of transport.

Direct rail transportation involves the transportation of passengers, freight, luggage and shipped baggage between railway stations in the Russian Federation with the participation of one or more piece of infrastructure on a single transportation document covering the entire route.

Direct intermodal transportation involves transport operations within the territory of the Russian Federation by several modes of transport under a single transport document (waybill) covering the entire route.

Indirect intermodal transportation consists in transportation operations within the territory of the Russian Federation by several modes of transport on separate transportation documents for each type of transport.

Special rail transportation consists in rail transportation designed to meet critical needs of the state and defense, as well as the rail transportation of prisoners and persons in custody.

Military rail transport consists in the rail transportation of military units, military goods, military teams and individuals undertaking military service or serving in the internal affairs organs, institutions and the penal and correctional system and employees of the sate federal security service.

International rail services are operated on the basis of bilateral and multilateral agreements concluded by the relevant authorities of participating governments.

Agreements to which the Russian Federation has acceded:

SGMS – Agreement on International Goods Transport by Rail. Implementation of direct international railway transport between the signatory countries to the SGMS:

• Republic of Azerbaijan,
• Republic of Albania,
• Republic of Belarus,
• Republic of Bulgaria,
• Republic of Hungary,
• Socialist Republic of Vietnam,
• Georgia,
• Islamic Republic of Iran,
• Republic of Kazakhstan,
• People's Republic of China,
• Democratic People's Republic of Korea,
• Kyrgyz Republic,
• Republic of Latvia,
• Republic of Lithuania,
• Republic of Moldova,
• Mongolia,
• Republic of Poland,
• Russian Federation,
• Republic of Tajikistan,
• Turkmenistan,
• Republic of Uzbekistan,
• Ukraine,
• Republic of Estonia.

Russia-Finland – Transportation in direct international rail connections between Russia-Finland.

The following are in effect:

• TP – Tariff policy.
• Tariff List N 10-01.

TP – The tariff policy of the railway companies in the member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States with regard to the transportation of goods in international traffic is an international treaty with an interdepartmental character which operates within the framework of the Tariff Agreement of Railway Administrations (Railways) of the Commonwealth of Independent States signed on 17 February 1993 (hereinafter – Tariff Agreement).

The signatories to the Tariff Agreement are railway companies of the following countries:

• Republic of Azerbaijan,
• Republic of Armenia,
• Republic of Belarus,
• Georgia,
• Republic of Kazakhstan,
• Kyrgyz Republic,
• Republic of Moldova,
• Russian Federation – Russian Railways,
• Republic of Tajikistan,
• Turkmenistan,
• Republic of Uzbekistan,
• Ukraine,
• Republic of Estonia.

The Tariff Policy rates are set on the basis of the International Rail Transit Tariff (IRTT) and Uniform Transit Tariff (UTT). The tariff is set in Swiss francs.

IRTT – International Rail Transit Tariff – is the Tariff Guide for rail transportation (western direction). Participants in the IRTT are:

• Belarusian Railways,
• Bulgarian State Railways,
• Georgian Railways,
• Railways of the Republic of Kazakhstan,
• Latvian Railways State Joint Stock Company,
• Lithuanian Railways Joint Stock Company,
• Special Purpose,
• State Enterprise The Railway of Moldova,
• Mongolian Railways,
• Polish State Railways Joint Stock Company,
• Russian Railways,
• Joint Stock Railway Company of Slovakia (Slovak Republic),
• Uzbek Railways,
• Ukrainian Railways,
• Czech Railways,
• Estonian Railways.

UTT – Uniform Transit Tariff (UTT).

Tariff rate N 10-01 – Tariffs for the transportation of goods and infrastructure services carried out by Russian Railways.

Fees are not included in the tariff rate of payments for additional operations or work.

Transportation documents are documents confirming the conclusion of contracts for the carriage of goods (rail waybill) or confirming the conclusion of a contract of carriage for a passenger ((ticket), the baggage receipt and shipped baggage receipt)).

The transportation of goods in individual wagons and small shipments are documented by the rail waybill or a set of shipping documents consisting of the waybill, railway memorandum bill, the railway memorandum bill counterfoil and the receipt for the reception of the goods.

Transportation of cargo in individual wagons can be documented by using a rail e-waybill.

For transporting goods by rail, the shipper must present to the carrier an application duly executed and in the required number of copies. The consignor must submit the application with an indication of the number of cars and the tonnage, the railway stations and other information prescribed under the rules of railway cargo transportation.

Shipping by rail involves transporting freight by rail on one waybill. Freight transportation can involve wagons, containers, small consignments, group consignments and full train shipments. 

Shipments by wagonload are considered goods presented for carriage under one rail transport consignment waybill for whose transportation a separate wagon is required.

Container shipments are considered goods presented for carriage on one transport bill for whose transportation a separate container is required.

Small consignments are considered goods presented on a single bill of lading for transportation which do not require the provision of a separate wagon or container.

Group consignments are considered goods presented for transportation on one freight waybill whose transportation requires more than one wagon, but less than a full train shipment.

The shipping route is considered that presented for transportation under one waybill on which the freight's transportation requires the provision of wagons in the amount corresponding to the standards of weight or length laid down for the routes.

Aggregated dispatches by wagon are considered to be freight with different names and goods classifications sent to a single consignee under one waybill.

The Unified Tariff and Statistical Classification of Goods (UTSCG CIS) is a classification of goods for all types of public transport that links automated data processing systems for the transportation of goods and the interaction of carriers with shippers and consignees in determining freight charges. It is designed for decoding goods transported by rail within Russia.

The Harmonised System Code (HSC) is used to describe and code goods in international freight transport between the members of the OSJD (Organisation for Cooperation of Railways) involved in the Agreement on International Goods Transport by Rail (SMGS) or applying the provisions of the SMGS.

The HSC is based on the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) of the World Customs Organisation (WCO) and corresponds to the Harmonised System Code of the International Union of Railways (NHM, 2003). The names of chapters, titles and positions correspond to the text of the HS.