This article is dedicated to the analysis of the role of rail transport in the Russian freight transportation market. The authors demonstrate that despite the increasing level of competition with road transport, rail transport represented by Russian Railways JSC still holds its position of a national monopoly in the sectors of mass industrial goods transportation and long-distance transportation. Moreover, the cross-country analysis shows that this situation is preconditioned by geographical and technological factors and is common to transport systems of most countries comparable to Russia in territory (Kazakhstan, Canada, the USA). Based on the conducted analysis, the authors conclude about the necessity of orienting the country’s transport policy towards the development of railway infrastructure to avoid possible infrastructure constraints for the social and economic development of the country’s regions.