The development of the Russian segment of container shipping has raised the issue of organizing self-regulation. The formation of the container shipping market requires the introduction of the term «professional market participant.» It is necessary to create a self-regulatory organization, which should have the authority to grant legal entities this status. The self-regulatory organization ensures granting of the status, control over compliance with the status conditions by legal entities, revocation of the status, formation of a unified technical policy, development of integrated technological solutions, etc.

The article presents the results of the work on creating a complex of innovative technologies for interval train traffic control, aimed at solving one of the key problems on Russian railways — increasing their capacity on existing infrastructure through knowledge-intensive solutions without the need for additional track construction. The article describes the developed technical and technological solutions and hardware-software tools that implement «virtual coupling» and «movement with mobile block sections» technologies, designed for managing train flows with minimal intervals while ensuring traffic safety requirements. A unique complex of digital simulation modeling of railway stations and sections is described, which allows for a radical improvement in the quality of design work, justification, and implementation of investment projects. The article also presents the results of testing and controlled operation of the implemented technologies using the example of the Eastern Polygon of JSC Russian Railways network, as well as the achieved socioeconomic effects.

This article examines the aspects of improving the efficiency of railway transportation processes through the implementation of innovative technical automation and robotization tools for sorting stations. Various options for implementing a robotic complex for autonomously releasing automatic brakes of freight wagons in the marshalling yard and uncoupling wagons on sorting ramps are discussed. The initial results of testing an experimental robotic complex are presented. The article concludes on the effectiveness and prospects of implementing robotic complexes to address issues such as reducing occupational injuries, minimizing the downtime of rolling stock at sorting stations, and improving the quality of technical maintenance for rolling stock.

The use of bionics principles in the context of innovation-oriented transportation development is discussed. The essence of bionics is revealed, its development is briefly characterized. Examples of using bionics principles for transportation innovations are provided, as well as for innovations in other important areas for transportation, such as the development of new materials and nanotechnology. Attention is focused on the economic aspect of innovations based on bionics principles. It is concluded that the use of bionics principles in the context of innovation-oriented transportation development is based on a fundamental economic foundation and can be considered as one of its important directions.

The methods for calculating the route network of long-distance passenger trains taking into account passenger preferences are discussed. This contributes to increasing the level of passenger demand satisfaction for transportation and transitioning a portion of passenger flow from alternative modes of transportation to railways. The provided examples demonstrate the formation of the route network of long-distance passenger trains with specified and unspecified train composition schemes.

The state of competition in the market of services provided by railway rolling stock operators for the years 2020–2021 has been analyzed. An overview of theoretical concepts for assessing the level of concentration and its relationship with the level of competition is provided. The level of competition is evaluated using the concentration index and the Herfindahl-Hirschman index for the market of services provided by rolling stock operators as a whole, as well as separately for the markets of gondola cars, tank cars, covered wagons, platforms, and others. The conclusion is drawn about the existence of competition in these markets, which are grouped based on the criteria of high, medium, and low concentration of sellers.

The principles and technology of modeling large complexes, including international transport corridors, are considered. For complexes with hundreds of stations, an aggregated modeling approach is proposed. A technology for aggregated representation in the model of bottlenecks, yards, stations as a whole, and sections has been developed. Special attention is given to aggregated modeling of classification yards. Comparative calculations on detailed and aggregated models prove the legitimacy of using macro-modeling. The developed macromodeling simulation system for complexes IMETRA is described, along with the results it produces. It is mentioned that the system has undergone state registration, and its usage technology has been approved by JSC «Russian Railways».

The results of experimental studies on the loading of the inner rail in a curved track section with a radius of 298 meters on the Angasolka–Slyudyanka‑2 stretch of the East Siberian Infrastructure Division of JSC «Russian Railways» are presented. The curve is located on a downhill slope with a gradient of 16.4‰. A statistical analysis of the vertical and lateral forces acting on the inner rail from the most common rolling stock — hopper cars — is performed. It is shown that due to the random variation of force factors associated with the dynamics of interaction between rolling stock and track, as well as unrealized speeds, vertical forces of up to 160–175 kN and lateral forces of up to 60–70 kN act on the inner rail. Although their frequency is low, the latter can cause progressive plastic deformation on the running surface of the inner rail. Differences in levels and contact zones are established between the 1st and 3rd wheelsets and the 2nd and 4th wheelsets. Two rolling contact fatigue tracks are formed on the running surface of the inner rail. The track closest to the working edge is formed by the 1st and 3rd wheelsets, and the second, located closer to the outer non-working edge, is formed by the 2nd and 4th wheelsets and is characterized by surface flaking with increased metal removal depth.

The main objective of this research is to determine the loads that occur when lateral wind forces affect containers transported on traditional platforms, as well as on containers transported when operating heavy rolling stock. Models of both traditional container platforms and container platforms for double-stack container transportation, used in heavy-duty operations, have been developed. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were conducted for the created container platform models to assess the impact of lateral wind forces of varying strength on the containers. As a result, it was established that containers loosely placed on fittings can overturn when subjected to lateral wind forces. When moving through curves and with an increase in the value of unbalanced acceleration, the probability of container overturning increases, which, in combination with high train speeds, can lead to derailments. Additional recommendations are provided to prevent container overturning by using locking fittings and other fastening methods.