In the context of a fundamental transformation of global supply chains, transport and logistics connectivity is becoming one of the key prerequisites for the economic sovereignty of Russia and the countries of the Global South.

The BRICS Summit in New Delhi, held under the theme “Strengthening Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainable Development,” sets new benchmarks for sectoral cooperation across all areas, including transport. For nearly a decade and a half, JSC “RZD”, coordinating Russia’s transport track within the BRICS Business Council, has been shaping a unified logistics landscape across Eurasia, Africa, and Latin America. This paper presents an analysis of the dynamics of freight traffic and bilateral projects with BRICS countries, the implementation of the objectives of Russia’s BRICS chairmanship, and assesses the contribution of the transport cluster of the Business Council to energy security. Particular attention is paid to new tools for evaluating the effectiveness of route development – the BRICS Logistics Connectivity Index (BLCI), as well as the development of the Transport Academy and the BRICS Transport digital platform. It is demonstrated that the initiatives proposed by the Russian side enable shifting the assessment of transport corridors from a qualitative to a quantitative dimension and provide a foundation for sustainable growth in mutual trade.

The purpose of the article is to increase the efficiency of interaction between port railway stations and ports by the aggregation of forecasting, optimization, and control systems with the use of dynamic prioritization methods and integration of a digital twin into the system. The study analyses the volume of container traffic on the railway network, presents an analytical report with averaged data on the number of containers transported on the railways of the Russian Federation, proposes ways to improve the methodology of interaction between ports and port stations, considers and proposes game-theoretic models for the system of interaction between port stations and ports, presents objective functions for each participant in the process, and reveals imperfections of the system. As a result of the research, the authors present a game-theoretic model of the system of interaction between port stations and ports and an operation algorithm, set an optimization task for integrating a digital twin into the system, and mathematically justify the use of this system. The practical significance of the study lies in the improvement of the interaction between port railway stations and ports in order to increase their handling and throughput capacities. Further research should consider the implementation of the method of interaction between port stations and ports including the operation of the system with an integrated digital twin using the example of a station of the October Railway.

Objective: Investigate and substantiate the effectiveness of thermal metal cladding of the locomotive wheel tread surface to increase tractive effort and reduce wear in the wheel–rail system.

Methods: Physical modelling of the locomotive’s mechanical drive system and the track superstructure was applied, ensuring dynamic similarity to full-scale objects. The equality of kinetic energy and potential energy of subsystems before and after reduction ensured the identity of natural frequencies and mode shapes. The correspondence of the wear type on the model to the wear pattern of the full-scale wheel–rail contact was adopted as a validity criterion for reproducing friction processes. The developed model structure allows for solving simulation tasks of dynamically loaded transport mechanical systems using mathematical modelling methods. The contact rotaprint method of thermal cladding (lubrication) of rails is also considered.

Findings: Bench tests of thermal metal cladding of the locomotive wheel tread demonstrated an increase in tractive effort and a significant reduction in the wear rate of friction pair elements.

Practical importance: The proposed technological solutions for thermal metal cladding and thermal cladding of tread surfaces contributed to increasing the wear resistance of wheelset flanges and rail heads on curved track sections, as well as to increasing the achievable tractive effort of the locomotive, which in combination ensures a reduction in operating costs and an improvement in traffic safety.

Of particular interest to countries developing high-speed rail (HSR) is the phenomenon of German high-speed passenger rail lines. Although in Germany, the development of this type of rail transport began significantly later than in Japan and France – in the early 1990s – statistics from the International Union of Railways show that the German high-speed rail network has now reached a significant extent, surpassed in terms of length in use only by China, Japan, France, and Spain. Therefore, the German example demonstrates that the growth in the length of high-speed rail can be reliably described by a polynomial or exponential function. Based on this, it can be assumed that the final development of the high-speed rail network in Germany will be completed by 2040–2080. The network length will then be approximately 1,900 km. Using the established pattern of network expansion, it is possible to forecast the dynamics of its construction in the Russian Federation and other developed countries that provide (or are expected to provide) partner services to the Russian Federation in this area. Having reliable information in advance about the extent, pace of development, and completion dates of its potential partners’ networks will enable the Russian Federation to build more beneficial economic and political relationships with them or adjust existing agreements.

The article presents an analysis of the dynamics of key indicators of the development of the Russian transportation industry in 2023–2025. It provides forecast values for the period up to 2028, taking into account current trends and exogenous macroeconomic parameters defined in the latest Forecast of the Social and Economic Development of the Russian Federation for 2026 and for the Planning Period of 2027 and 2028, as well as in other strategic documents.