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The Russian Railways is marking its seventh anniversary this month.

During the past seven years, the railroad has transported more than 10.4 billion tons of cargo, including 2.3 billion tons of coal, 1.8 billion tons of oil and petrochemicals, 2.2 billion tons of mined construction materials, 1.7 billion tons of ore, 670.6 billion tons of ferrous metals and more than 515.3 million tons of timber.

The railroad's share of rail cargo in Russia’s national transport system rose from 39.5 percent in 2004 to 42 percent in 2009, then reached 42.4 percent in the first eight months of 2010, Russian Railways officials said in a prepared statement.

The railroad also has carried more than 8.4 billion passengers in its first seven years of service. Russian Railways’ share in the national transport sector grew from 35 percent in 2004 to 37.7 percent in 2009, then climbed to 32.5 percent in 2010's first seven months.