The state of the maintenance facilities for special selfpropelled rolling stock at the eastern test site of RZD: systemic contradictions and directions for development

The third stage of development of the Baikal-Amur and Trans-Siberian highways provides for an increase in the carrying capacity of the Eastern polygon of Russian Railways to 270 million tons by 2032 and is accompanied by an increase in the volume of both construction and track repair. The technological resource for these works is special self-propelled rolling stock, the technical readiness of which is maintained by the repair base. As of April 1, 2025, the unified Eastern Directorate for the operation of track machines has been abolished; its functions have been transferred to the mechanization services within the infrastructure directorates of the four railways of the polygon. Repair is carried out in two organizational circuits: by the economic method using the services of mechanization and under a contract with a network contractor. It has been established that 18% of the fleet is classified as non-operational, the actual production of machines is two to four times lower than the passport value due to the limited duration of technological "windows", and the repair enterprises of the eastern roads have the lowest own capacities, despite the highest demand. Four systemic contradictions have been formulated: the aging and heterogeneity of the fleet, the multiple increase in demand (according to the forecast) for track work in 20242030, the spatial and seasonal mismatch between the placement and utilization of repair capacities and the demand, and the lack of a formalized criterion for distributing work between the economic and contractual execution circuits. Based on these findings, practical directions for the development of the repair base have been substantiated, and the scientific task of its rational solution by 2030 has been formulated. 

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