WAGON production in Russia dropped by 21% to 37,900 units during the first eight months of 2025, a trend that is accelerating, according to the Russian Association of Wagon Builders.
In August, the monthly production level hit a new low of 3700, a 40% decrease compared with the year before.
While a few market segments showed positive signs during the first eight months of this year, such as tank wagon production jumping by 47% to 11,500 units, overall performance was negative.
Production of container wagons fell by 18% to 4200 units, and gondola production by 6% to 17,200. In several segments, the downward trend was more pronounced. Production of hoppers plummeted by 80% and general-purpose flat wagons by 93%, the association says.
Russian wagon production has been on a downward spiral since February 2025 with this year's output 73% below the level forecast by domestic manufacturers, Russian news outlet RBC reported.
“Such complications could become critical both for the wagon manufacturers and for related industries that produce components and rolled metal products,” RBC said.
By the end of the year, Russian wagon production is unlikely to reach 50,000 units, says Mikhail Burmistrov, CEO of Infoline Analytics, a Moscow-based think tank. In 2024, production stood at 74,900 and he suggests that wagon builders might now need financial aid from the government to survive.
Crisis
A sharp fall in freight traffic, coupled with the Central Bank's high interest rate, has prompted a systemic crisis for the Russian railway sector and is causing the sharp decline in wagon production, according to Alexander Polikarpov, managing partner of the Rolling Stock Agency, a railway industry consultancy.
However, even at record low levels of production, Russian Railways (RZD) still has a surplus of around 400,000 wagons, which is causing congestion and other issues for railway management.
The issue has been partly caused by overproduction by Russian manufacturers stimulated by government programmes, resulting in more wagons being manufactured than were withdrawn by RZD. In 2025, for example, only 25,000 wagons are expected to be decommissioned, RZD deputy CEO, Mikhail Glazkov, CEO, reported in February.
Russian rolling stock manufacturers have accumulated a large stock of wagons which have received official approval, but which has “neither a buyer, nor a purpose,” he said.
