Freight news – Page 133
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NewsUnion Pacific announces $4·3bn capital programme
USA: Union Pacific Corp has announced a 2015 capital programme valued at $4·3bn, which it says is an increase of $200m on 2014. UP said the programme would be ‘driven primarily by equipment acquisitions and infrastructure investments’. Spending on Positive Train Control is expected to total $450m, up from ...
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NewsLokoTrain buys its first locomotive
CZECH REPUBLIC: Open access freight operator LokoTrain has taken delivery of the first locomotive it has bought outright, a Škoda Class 43 electric locomotive which previously belonged to Bulgarian national operator BDZ. The locomotive has been modernised by CZ Loko and ČMŽO Přerov, with the installation of new cabling, Mirel ...
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NewsAudi orders two battery-diesel hybrid locomotives
GERMANY: On February 4 Alstom announced a contract to supply automotive manufacturer Audi with two Type H3 battery-diesel hybrid shunting locomotives for use at its Ingolstadt factory. Deliveries are scheduled for the end of 2015 and the end of 2016. DB and Volkswagen have previously ordered similar locomotives. The H3 ...
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NewsDowner wins Pacific National loco maintenance deal
AUSTRALIA: Downer Rail is to provide locomotive maintenance and fleet management services to interstate rail freight operator Pacific National under an A$1bn contract announced on February 4. Covering more than 300 locomotives, the Locomotive Maintenance Agreement will run for 10 years. According to Downer EDI Ltd Chief Executive Officer Grant ...
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NewsPKP Cargo to take stake in Pol-Miedź Trans
POLAND: An agreement for PKP Cargo to acquire a stake of up to 49% in the Pol-Miedź Trans transport subsidiary of copper and silver mining company KGHM was signed on February 2. PMT has a 2·4% share of the Polish rail freight market, with a fleet of 63 locomotives and ...
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NewsFreightliner PL orders Dragon locomotives
POLAND: Freightliner PL signed a contract to lease five Newag Gliwice electric locomotives from ING Lease on January 30. The 5 MW six-axle E6DCF Dragon locomotives are scheduled to be delivered from May to July 2016 under a €17·5m deal which includes two years of aftersales support. They will ...
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NewsVossloh España announces French locomotive orders
FRANCE: Contracts to supply a total of 12 Euro 4000 freight locomotives worth more than €40m were announced by Vossloh España on January 29. SNCF subsidiary VFLI has ordered two locomotives directly, and six through Beacon Rail Leasing. Eurotunnel’s Europorte business has ordered four locomotives. The six-axle diesel-electric locomotives ...
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NewsNorfolk Southern announces closure of Roanoke office
USA: Norfolk Southern has announced that it is to close its Roanoke office building later this year, relocating the functions currently housed there to its operational headquarters in Atlanta and its corporate headquarters in Norfolk. NS said its aim is to ‘foster departmental synergies and to make better use of ...
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NewsAqaba Railway awards wagon repair contract
JORDAN: Aqaba Railway Corp has signed a 10-month contract for King Abdullah II Design & Development Bureau and Jordan Advanced Machining Co to rebuild 35 accident-damaged wagons at a cost of 665 000 dinars. An initial wagon was rebuilt free of charge by JordanAMCO, and underwent three months of trial ...
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NewsRail freight capacity boost for North Sea ferry services
NETHERLANDS: Work is to begin shortly on a rail freight capacity enhancement project at Europoort which is being developed jointly by the Port of Rotterdam, ERS Railways and ferry companies P&O Ferries and Stena Line. The aim is to double rail capacity from 26 to 32 trains/week by early March, ...
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NewsRhenus Group to take majority stake in Crossrail
EUROPE: Rhenus Group expects regulatory approval in mid-February for a deal to acquire a 50·1% stake in Swiss trans-Alpine operator Crossrail AG for an undisclosed price. Current shareholders LKW Walter, Hupac, Le Jeune Capital Partners, Bertschi and MSC will continue to maintain holdings, and the Crossrail management team and ...
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NewsLoan funding for new freight operator
URUGUAY: Latin American development bank CAF has approved a US$45m loan to Servicios Logísticos Ferroviarios, a new freight operating company formed by state railway AFE and national development corporation CND. With US$11⋅5m of local match funding, the CAF loan will be used over the next two years to purchase new ...
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NewsJernbaneverket takes over freight terminals to promote competition
NORWAY: Infrastructure manager Jernbaneverket has acquired the freight terminals previously owned by the RailCombi subsidiary of NSB’s CargoNet business, and is to make them available for use by any operator. The purchase covers terminals in Narvik, Bodø, Fauske, Mo i Rana, Trondheim, Bergen, Kristiansand, Drammen and Alnabru (Oslo). ‘Whereas terminals ...
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NewsEurotunnel orders extra Freight Shuttles
EUROPE: Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel has awarded WBN Waggonbau Niesky a €40m contract to supply three more Freight Shuttle trainsets to support its target of carrying 2 million lorries/year in 2020. The 800 m long rakes will comprise 32 lorry-carrying wagons, three loading wagons and a coach for the lorry ...
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NewsRDC takes 25% stake in Eurorail
EUROPE: US railway investment and management company Railroad Development Corp announced on January 12 that it had taken a 25% stake in Belgium-based rail logistics company Eurorail. In 2012 RDC and Eurorail established the equally-owned RégioRail venture, which now operates four feeder services in France. ‘Through RégioRail we have ...
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NewsCSR Qishuyan locomotives delivered to Thailand
THAILAND: State Railway of Thailand has taken delivery of the first two of 20 SDA3 locomotives being supplied by CSR Qishuyan The six-axle metre-gauge diesel locomotives were ordered in June 2013 as part of a strategy to develop a 'hub and spoke' intermodal freight network. Each locomotive has a ...
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NewsHeavy haul coal line opened
CHINA: The country’s longest dedicated heavy haul coal railway was opened for revenue operation on December 30. According to the Shandong provincial development and reform commission, the completion of the line is important to for China’s energy security. It is also expected to stimulate economic development along the route. Intended ...
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NewsBLS buys back DB’s stake in BLS Cargo
SWITZERLAND: BLS has agreed to buy back the 45% stake BLS Cargo which is owned by DB Schweiz Holding for an undisclosed price. Announcing the agreement on January 6, BLS said the transaction would have no effect on the existing operational relationships between the companies, and DB Schenker Rail would ...
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NewsNorfolk Southern unveils publicly-funded GP33ECO locomotive
USA: A GP33ECO shunting locomotive remanufactured from an EMD GP50 at Norfolk Southern’s Juniata Locomotive Shop in Altoona, Pennsylvania, using funding from the Congestion Mitigation & Air Quality Improvement Program was unveiled on January 6. A total of 25 locomotives are being repowered with Tier 3 compliant EMD 12-710 ...
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NewsGreenbrier announces ‘strategic investment’ in Brazil
BRAZIL: The Greenbrier Companies announced an agreement to acquire a 19·5% stake in wagon manufacturer Amsted-Maxion Hortolândia for US$15m on January 7. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2015, and the US company also has an option to acquire an additional 40·5% stake by September ...