TRANSPORT FORCE AND THE INDEX OF THE DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL OF HEAVY TRAFFIC AS NEW INDICATORS OF THE USE OF A TRACTION BUSINESS RESOURCE

Background. The article is devoted to the study of the organization of the heavyweight movement. The relevance of the topic determines the trend of increasing the average weight of freight trains on Russian railways. Purpose: to characterize new indicators for a comprehensive assessment of the development of heavy-lift traffic as new indicators of the use of traction resources of JSC "Russian Railways". Methods. The methods of norming the operational work of railroads, logistics, as well as visualization and analysis tools were used. Results. An integral indicator is proposed – the Index of the development potential of heavy traffic for a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of the organization of both a separate route and related multiplicative effects, which will provide a scientifically based solution to the problem of increasing the capacity of railways. The indicator "transport force" is proposed, which makes it possible to estimate, together with the load capacity, the average axial load of trains running on one kilometer of the operational length of railways and performing transport work. Conclusion. It is shown that it is difficult to assess the effectiveness of the organization of heavy traffic without appropriate methodological tools on a specific section of the railway route in a certain period of time. An attempt has been made to systematize the components of a traction business resource and focus them into a single system of indicators, taking into account local technical and technological features and a number of parameters.