Freight news – Page 123
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NewsGabon rail upgrade funding agreed
GABON: The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corp has agreed to provide railway concessionaire Société d’Exploitation du Transgabonais with €52·5m of debt financing to boost the capacity, efficiency and reliability of the rail network, while the Proparco private sector financing arm of the French Development Agency is ...
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NewsEuropean Commission adopts new rules to widen access to rail infrastructure
EUROPE: New rules designed to create fairer conditions for access to rail infrastructure were adopted by the European Commission on April 7, and will come into force on December 1. The Commission is concerned that EU rail markets are currently ‘characterised’ by dominant operators which may have close ties with ...
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NewsVIIA Britanica ‘rail motorway’ launched
FRANCE: SNCF Logistics subsidiary VIIA has launched its VIIA Britanica unaccompanied lorry semi-trailer service between the Port of Calais and Le Boulou near the Spanish border, with the first southbound train departing at 02.00 on March 30. Described as the longest ‘rail motorway’ in Europe, VIIA Britanica avoids a 1 ...
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NewsDAL orders eight locomotives
GERMANY: Deutsche Anlagen-Leasing has awarded Alstom a contract to supply four Prima H3 battery-diesel hybrid shunting locomotives and four refurbished locomotives, and service them for eight years. The 100 km/h locomotives are scheduled to be delivered from Alstom's Stendal plant in the second half of 2016. DAL will lease ...
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NewsFinnish open access operator signs up first customer
FINLAND: The Lappi Timber subsidiary of Kempele Forest has become the launch customer for Fenniarail, Finland’s first open access rail freight operator. Fenniarail has been awarded a contract to haul sawn wood products from Kemijärvi in the far north of the country to the Gulf of Bothnia port of Oulu ...
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NewsNew operator for Dakar – Bamako railway
AFRICA: The governments of Senegal and Mali have established Dakar Bamako Ferroviaire to manage the revival of the 1 286 km railway between the port of Dakar and Bamako. The new company replaces concessionaire TransRail, a 51% subsidiary of Advens which had operated the metre-gauge line under a concession awarded ...
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NewsDB needs ‘quality, quality and more quality’ to return to economic success
GERMANY: ‘A self-critical look shows us that we did not achieve the targets we set’, said Deutsche Bahn CEO Rüdiger Grube when presenting the group’s 2015 annual results on March 16. Grube said three events had a major impact on the national railway last year: ‘unusually fierce’ storms; the longest ...
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NewsKnorr-Bremse wins sugar cane wagon brake systems contract
BRAZIL: Freight operator RUMO ALL has awarded Knorr-Bremse a contract to modernise the braking equipment on 8 500 sugar cane wagons, and take exclusive responsibility for maintaining the brakes over the next 15 years. The agreement announced on March 17 covers DB60-II control valves, slack adjusters and other components complying ...
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NewsNacala Corridor wagon lease signed
AFRICA: Northern Mozambique railway concessionaire Corredor De Desenvolvimento Do Norte has signed a five-year agreement to lease 100 grain wagons from GPR Leasing Africa for use between Bakhresa Malawi Ltd’s grain terminal at the Port of Nacala and a milling and packing plant in Malawi. The 1 067 mm gauge ...
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NewsBözberg Tunnel groundbreaking
SWITZERLAND: A groundbreaking ceremony held at Schinznach-Dorf on March 9 launched construction of the 2·7 km new Bözberg Tunnel, the biggest single element of the project to increase clearances to 4 m to accommodate semitrailers on the Gotthard corridor between Bern and Italy. The new double-track bore is being built ...
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NewsDBK-Leasing completes Ijara wagon deal
KAZAKHSTAN: Development Bank of Kazakhstan’s DBK-Leasing subsidiary has completed its first rolling stock transaction meeting Islamic Ijara leasing requirements. The 1·1bn tenge deal covers the provision of 113 LPG tank wagons for use by Eastcomtrans for 10 years, with defined payments and the lessor responsible for insurance and maintenance. ...
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NewsDB Schenker Rail rebrands as DB Cargo
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn's rail freight business DB Schenker Rail AG was renamed DB Cargo AG with effect from March 1. All DB Schenker Rail companies in Germany and elsewhere are to be rebranded by the end of 2016. DB's passenger and rail freight transport business units were combined into ...
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NewsHigh-capacity cement wagons unveiled
UK: The first of a fleet of 48 wagons built by Feldbinder for Hope Construction Materials was unveiled at the company’s cement works at Hope in Derbyshire on February 26 by Transport Minister Andrew Jones. Half of the wagons are now in service, and the rest are expected to arrive ...
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NewsVertex launches wagon leasing business
USA: Vertex Railcar Corp has launched Vertex Rail Leasing, a wholly-owned subsidiary offering wagons manufactured at its Wilmington plant for lease. ‘With the launch of Vertex Rail Leasing, Vertex is well positioned to address the railcar needs across the full spectrum of customers in the market - those who prefer ...
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NewsProfit up as VTG opens ‘new chapter’
EUROPE: ‘VTG opened a completely new chapter in 2015’, said Chief Executive Heiko Fischer when presenting preliminary results on February 23. In 2015 the integration of AAE had been successfully completed, all VTG divisions developed their business, processes and structures were simplified and comprehensive refinancing benefited from low interest rates, ...
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NewsUnited Wagon Co output up 28%
RUSSIA: Increased production capacity and larger order volumes saw United Wagon Co manufacture a total of 12 400 wagons in 2015, a 28% increase on 2014’s total. Production in Q4 2015 reached 3 900 wagons, up 43% on the same period the previous year. The group obtained certification for six ...
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NewsCSX adjusts to declining coal traffic
USA: CSX has announced measures to match its ‘structural resources’ with an ongoing decline in coal traffic volumes and predicted future shifts in demand. Coal revenues have declined by $1·4bn over the past four years, and Chief Financial Officer Frank Lonegro told the Barclays Industrial Select Conference in Miami on ...
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NewsCN announces C$2·9bn 2016 capital plan
CANADA: CN has announced a C$2·9bn spending plan for 2016. ‘CN is investing for the long term and we are again planning a significant capital programme in 2016 to support a safe and fluid railway network, and to raise the bar on efficiency and customer service’, said President & CEO ...
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News‘Last ever’ Class 66 locomotives delivered
UK: What manufacturer Electro-Motive Diesel and operator GB Railfreight expect to be the final batch of Class 66 locomotives to be built arrived at the port of Newport in Wales on February 12. The seven locomotives were unloaded the following morning, and take GBRf’s Class 66 fleet to 78 locomotives. ...
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NewsUralvagonzavod wagons for Iran
IRAN: Russian rolling stock and defence group Uralvagonzavod has completed a Type 12-581-01 open wagon custom-designed for export to Iran by its Ural Design Bureau of Wagon Construction. The Type 12-581-wagon has a capacity of 66·7 tonnes. The 18-100 bogie is an existing 1 520 mm gauge design modified for ...