With effect from January 1, 2024, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have become new members of the BRICS. Today, BRICS is an association of 10 countries that account for about 42 % of the world’s total population (2.8 billion people) and 27 % of the global GDP.

According to experts, a major focus is made on the association’s prospective economic potential and its expected share of the world’s economy. What seems interesting in the context of the continued economic growth is the research in the field of development of the transport industry in the BRICS countries.

Earlier, the BRICS Transport journal (Issue No. 2 (4), 2023) presented an overview of the state and progress of high-speed railway transport in the five BRICS founding countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and the Republic of South Africa). In connection with the expansion of the transnational association, it is proposed that the research should be extended. The authors used both findings of scholarly works in the field of railway transport development, and BRICS summit reports and presentations available on Russian and foreign information platforms.

The paper analyses the development of railway transport in the countries that have joined BRICS recently (Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia), in particular, the prospects of development of express and high-speed rail services.

By the end of the nineteenth century, several dozen railway companies operated in India on intercity routes, including those of several thousand kilometres in length. On both wide and narrow gauge lines, various wagons were operated: from Classes IV and III with almost no amenities (often even without the simplest benches for sitting) and up to luxury Class I coaches and saloon coaches. Almost until the beginning of the twentieth century, when organizing passenger transportation, railway companies focused on a relatively small circle of European colonizers — civil servants, British military and wealthy entrepreneurs, including Indians, and, to a lesser extent, on middle–income Indians, while virtually ignoring the interests of the poorest population groups, which made up the vast majority of Indian society. Based on the above, a fleet of passenger carriages of wide, metre and narrow gauge lines was also formed, while, of course, all technical innovations and improvements related to improving travel comfort were initially introduced in saloon coaches, first-class carriages and, decades later, often in second-class, and then third- and fourth-class carriages. This situation remained almost until India gained independence in 1947. Real improvement began in the 1960s with the renewal of the country’s passenger coach fleet and an increase in the overall level of passenger service, including the second and third classes.

Transport logistics is the dominant process of supply, which includes planning, execution and control of the movement of goods and services. The study examines the processes of digital transformation of the Russian transport and logistics industry. A number of current trends are analysed, such as electronic transportation documents (for all modes of transport), the development of delivery systems and logistics of marketplaces, and the beginning of large-scale commercial operation of unmanned aircraft systems. It is noted that special software and AI reduce data processing time and can perform those tasks that were previously performed by people, thereby speeding up logistics processes and reducing related costs. It is quite obvious that processes that previously required a significant time can be optimised by reducing it. The use of methods of analysis and synthesis, comparisons and generalizations in combination with a systematic approach to the study allowed us to consider the processes of digital transformation of the transport and logistics industry and their fusion on the effectiveness of logistics processes from different points of view and approaches. The demand for digitalisation in the transport and logistics system is due to the constantly growing need for the delivery of goods, regardless of the geographical distance between the counterparties. The use of modern technologies in transport logistics is likely to be able to scale supply chain processes with a significant reduction in time lag. IT technologies are the key to improving the efficiency and competitiveness of transport logistics. The paper substantiates the need to implement advanced IT solutions that will allow companies to optimise their logistics operations, improve the quality of customer service, and reduce costs.