The development of international railway transit of Russia and Latvia in the context of freight transportation from the Central Asia and China

The Russian and Latvian transit transport systems are examined in this article. The authors analyze the current state of international transit traffic on the Russian railways based on the directions of transportation and the type of cargo. The level of international freight transport according to the export and import flows to Central Asia, Mongolia and China through Russia’s territory is also investigated in the present article. Moreover, the authors examine the project of forming new international transport corridor «Latvia - Russia - Central Asia - China». Economic interests of the concerned parties, including Russia, Latvia and China, are also stated in the article. The authors define possible advantages of forming new transcontinental overland route, as well as they evaluate the prospects of Russian-Latvian transport cooperation in the area of mutual increase in the exports of transport services by using railway transport.