DECLINING trade with Russia inflicted a heavy toll on rail freight traffic in Estonia last year, according to annual traffic figures from national rail freight operator EVR Cargo. Freight traffic to and from Russia declined by 18% to 7.7 million tonnes and the reduction in EU-Russia trade contributed to a 25% fall in transit traffic.
Oil volumes plummeted by 37% to 1.68 million tonnes while intermodal traffic fell by 40% to 44,812 TEU. However, EVR Cargo saw fertiliser traffic grow 11.2% to 3.72 million tonnes and growth is expected to continue in this sector in 2016.
Overall, EVR Cargo forecasts a further 5% decline in volumes this year, primarily due to the continuing fall in oil traffic.