Russian Railways Implements Furloughs as Freight Traffic Plummets Amid Economic Challenges

Russia’s state-owned railway company has started to furlough some administrative workers due to a significant drop in freight traffic, as reported by the RBC news outlet on Monday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the situation.

Since July, managers at the central office of Russian Railways and in certain regional divisions have reportedly been instructed to take two unpaid days off each month. This arrangement is expected to continue until the end of 2025.

«This decision was made to maintain the workforce, which would otherwise face layoffs given the current economic climate,» one source revealed to RBC.

Russian Railways chose not to comment on the matter, according to the report.

Freight volumes have plummeted sharply since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. After a decline of 3.9% that year and a further dip of 0.2% in 2023, freight traffic plunged by 4.1% in 2024, marking its most significant decrease in 15 years, as noted by RBC.

From January to June this year, freight loading fell an additional 8% compared to the same period in 2024, amounting to 554.5 million metric tons.

This downturn has compelled Russian Railways to reduce its investment program by nearly 40%, according to RBC. In May, Reuters reported that the company was cutting back on investment expenditures due to increasing interest payments.

Net profit dropped by 95%, reaching 2.7 billion rubles ($33.8 million) in the first half of 2025, in accordance with Russian Accounting Standards. The railway company now anticipates losing 87 billion rubles (approximately $1 billion) in revenue this year as cargo volumes continue to decline.

Last year, the net profit for Russian Railways decreased to 13.9 billion rubles, down from 118.3 billion rubles in 2023, despite an 8.6% rise in revenue to 2.83 trillion rubles.