METHODICAL APPROACHES TO THE DECISION ON THE CLOSURE OF THE UKRAINIAN LOW-ACTIVITY RAILWAY STATION

Abstract

The article shows that JSC “Ukrainian Railways” is in a state of deep crisis, the causes of which are the reduction of transit traffic, corruption of state bodies, critical deterioration of the fixed assets of railway transport of Ukraine. This conclusion based on the analysis of the main indicators of the activity of the company for the period 2000-2018. This forced management of “Ukrzaliznytsia” to take urgent anti-crisis measures to reduce operating costs. One of the costs cutting measures was the closure of low-activity railway stations. However, the management of the company approached this issue only from the standpoint of corporate interests, not taking into account the interests of other participants in the transport process: a collective of employees of low-activity stations, regional authorities, passengers, shippers, farmers, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders. The arguments in favour of the decision on the closure of low-activity cargo stations are presented, the possible negative consequences of this decision are considered, and the guidance documents developed by JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia” in preparation for the closure of low-active stations are analyzed. The article proposes a comprehensive methodological approach to decision-making on the closure of low-active railway stations, which takes into account the current economic performance and financial results, provides consideration of interests of all interested parties, possible alternatives and strategic challenges for the development of regions. It is proposed to introduce an additional criterion of efficiency of freight train station activity – profitability of the station. Based on the proposed approach, a decision-making scheme for the closure of low-activity railway stations has been developed, taking into account the interests of all parties and possible alternatives. Along with the recovery of the volume of loads, it is proposed to use mechanisms of compensation of losses of low-active stations, such as compensation of losses at the expense of local budgets; compensation for transportation of privileged categories of passengers and liquidation of debts to “Ukrzaliznytsia” for such compensation; return of the land tax paid by “Ukrzaliznytsia”; the creation of a compensation fund to support the financing of the low-activity station.