Freight news – Page 120
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NewsRevised ERTMS Deployment Plan adopted
EUROPE: A new timetable for the roll-out of the European Rail Traffic Management System has been put in place by the European Commission, with the adoption on January 5 of an implementing regulation. The revised ERTMS European Deployment Plan has been drawn up over the past two years by ERTMS ...
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NewsWork starts to reopen Guarda – Covilhã link
PORTUGAL: Minister of Planning & Infrastructure Pedro Marques has announced the start of work to rehabilitate the Guarda – Covilhã section of the Beira Baixa route by mid-2019. To be completed within a budget of €88m, rehabilitation of the railway, which has been out of use since 2009, would provide ...
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NewsChina to London rail freight service launched
INTERNATIONAL: An inaugural freight service carrying containers between China and the UK is scheduled to arrive at Barking in east London on January 18, having left Yiwu Xi station in eastern China’s Zhejiang province on January 1. The service is being organised by Yiwu Timex Industrial Investment Co, which has ...
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NewsRomania – Sweden freight service to launch
EUROPE: Samskip and Rail Cargo Group are to launch a rail freight service during January linking Curtici near Arad in western Romania with major logistics centres in Sweden. This will join two existing freight routes to form what the partners say will be the ‘first unified rail connection’ between Romania ...
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NewsGBRf orders wagons for biomass contract
UK: Wagon manufacturer Astra and leasing company Nacco are to supply GB Railfreight with 50 high-capacity hopper wagons to support a biomass haulage contract awarded by Lynemouth Power Ltd. The purpose-built wagons are scheduled to enter service from October 1 2017. GBRf plans to run 27 trains per week between ...
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NewsMultimodal terminal at the locus of rail freight
AUSTRIA: Speaking at an event to mark the opening of the Wien Süd Freight Centre, Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation & Technology Jörg Leichtfried said on December 5 that ‘I want to move as much traffic off the roads and on to rail as soon as possible’. Forecasting that the ...
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NewsConstruction starts on China – Laos railway
LAOS: Ceremonies were held in the northern city of Luang Prabang on December 25 to mark the launch of construction of the 414·3 km rail link from the Chinese border to Vientiane. Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith formally turned the first sod and struck a gong to mark the start ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
InterRail of Switzerland is expected to launch a service carrying containers by rail between China and the UK in January, aiming to compete with air freight for higher-value consignments such as automotive parts and electronic goods. DB Cargo UK would provide haulage from Calais to Barking, according to CEO Hans-Georg ...
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NewsSMBC Rail to buy American Railcar Leasing
USA: Wagon leasing company SMBC Rail Services announced on December 19 that it had reached agreement to acquire the American Railcar Leasing business currently owned by investment group Icahn Enterprises. The transaction is expected to complete in the first half of 2017. SMBC Rail will pay $2·78bn in cash for ...
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NewsKiwiRail to end electric freight haulage
NEW ZEALAND: Following two years of studies, national railway KiwiRail announced on December 21 that it had decided to cease electric haulage of freight trains on the North Island Main Trunk line in favour of using diesel locomotives. Electric traction will be phased out over the next two years, but ...
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NewsKenyan standard gauge locomotives unveiled
KENYA: The three types of 1 435 mm gauge diesel locomotives which CRRC Qishuyan is supplying for the 473 km Mombasa – Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway were unveiled at the factory in China on December 16. The company is supplying a total of 56 locomotives. There will be 43 DF8B ...
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NewsDhaka – Payra railway to be developed by UK company
BANGLADESH: A memorandum of understanding for the development of a 240 km railway to link Dhaka with a planned deep water port at Payra on the Bay of Bengal was signed on December 20 by the government, Bangladesh Railway and London-based company DP Rail. The memorandum gives DP Rail the ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Ukrainian Railways has awarded Dneprovagonmash a contract to supply 250 wagons and Popasna Railcar Repair Plant an order for 50 wagons. Container shipping line MSC has renamed its Portuguese freight operating business Medlog, formerly CP Carga, as Medway. Medlog is an MSC brand used in other countries for logistics businesses, ...
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NewsJoint company to manage Ethiopia – Djibouti railway
AFRICA: Ethiopia's Minister of Transport Ahmed Shide and his Djiboutian counterpart Mohammed Abdulkadir Musa have signed an agreement to establish a joint company to manage the new railway linking the countries. The company will be have its headquarters in Addis Ababa, and be responsible for the provision of passenger, freight ...
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NewsFirst San Martín locos arrive
ARGENTINA: In the presence of Transport Minister Guillermo Dietrich, the first two diesel freight locomotives that CRRC of China has supplied for the 1 676 mm gauge San Martín network were unloaded in the Port of Buenos Aires on December 13. They form part of the 107 locomotives being ...
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NewsCarmichael coal railway approved
AUSTRALIA: Indian energy group Adani has received the final approval from the federal government and the state of Queensland for its A$21·7bn project to develop the planned Carmichael coal mine in the north Galilee Basin, together with a 388 km 1 435 mm gauge rail link to a new export ...
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NewsG&W buys terminal operator to complement Freightliner
UK: Genesee & Wyoming Inc has entered into an agreement to purchase UK container terminal and road haulage operator Pentalver Transport Ltd from APM Terminals. The transaction is expected to close in Q1 2017. Pentalver operates off-dock container terminals at the major seaports of Felixstowe, Southampton, London Gateway and Tilbury, ...
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NewsBasalt fibre insulated tank wagons ordered
RUSSIA: Chemical producer Bashkir Soda Co has ordered more than 70 Type 15-6900 tank wagons from United Wagon Co subsidiary TikhvinChemMash to carry caustic sodium hydroxide. Deliveries are scheduled by the end of 2016. In a development which the manufacturer claims is ‘unique to the market’, these wagons will incorporate ...
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NewsEMD locos ordered for Tunisian phosphate trains
TUNISIA: National railway SNCFT has awarded Progress Rail Services a 165m dinar contract to supply 20 Electro-Motive Diesel GT42AC diesel locomotives which will primarily be used to haul phosphate trains in the hot, dry and sandy environment. The metre-gauge locomotives are to be manufactured at Progress Rail’s plant in Muncie, ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Ukrainian Railways has awarded KVSZ a contract to supply 350 Type 12-783 open wagons. German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt has announced draft legislation mandating the use of low-noise wagons complying with EU legislation from December 2020. Proposed exemptions include running non-compliant wagons at lower speeds. PKP Cargo subsidiary Cargotor has ...