Freight news – Page 134
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NewsWagon leasing company acquisition completed
EUROPE: Wagon leasing and logistics group VTG AG completed the acquisition of Swiss leasing company Ahaus Alstätter Eisenbahn Holding AG on January 6, following approval from the competition authorities in Germany, Austria, Poland and Russia. ‘I am delighted that we have been able to take this step just three months ...
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NewsPKP Cargo agrees to buy 80% stake in AWT
CZECH REPUBLIC: Polish state rail freight operator PKP Cargo announced on December 30 that it had agreed to buy a controlling stake in Advanced World Transport as part of its plans for expansion in central and eastern Europe. The Netherlands-registered company is the largest open-access rail freight operator in the ...
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NewsRedesigning wagons
SWEDEN: A year-long research project to enhance the design of a Kiruna Wagon mineral hopper concluded at the end of 2014. The project saw the wagon manufacturer collaborate with students from Luleå University of Technology as part of an effort to reduce the tare weight of the side-dumping wagons used ...
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NewsFinnish open access operator prepares to launch
FINLAND: Privately-owned company Fennia Rail has ordered three diesel locomotives from Czech supplier CZ Loko to support its plans to launch open access freight services in southern Finland by the end of 2015. Fennia Rail is currently negotiating with potential customers in the forest products sector, and hopes ...
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NewsToll Group divests Cambodian railway stake
CAMBODIA: Australian logistics group Toll has divested its 55% stake in the Toll Royal Railway joint venture to its local partner Royal Group with effect from December 19. Toll Royal Railway took over the dilapidated metre-gauge network in 2009 under a 30-year concession. The Asian Development Bank and Australian development ...
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NewsWisconsin buys Union Pacific line
USA: The state of Wisconsin has completed the purchase of 110 km of Union Pacific route linking Madison with Reedsburg and Cottage Grove, Governor Scott Walker announced on December 11. The $30m purchase was made jointly by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and Wisconsin River Rail Transit Commission. The ...
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NewsSamskip to launch dedicated Rotterdam – Italy intermodal service
EUROPE: Samskip Multimodal is to launch a dedicated intermodal rail freight service between Rotterdam and the Melzo terminal near Milano during January. The initial focus is on pallet-wide high cube 45 ft containers, curtain-siders, flatracks and reefers. The Rotterdam – Melzo transit time will be under 30 h, with ...
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NewsCSR announces Belgrano order
ARGENTINA: Chinese rolling stock supplier CSR announced on December 15 that it had been awarded an order worth 1∙7bn yuan to supply 80 diesel locomotives and over 2 000 wagons. As well as new traction and rolling stock for the 1 000 mm gauge Belgrano network, CSR says it ...
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NewsEastcomtrans and EBRD sign wagon financing deal
KAZAKHSTAN: The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development has signed an agreement to provide Eastcomtrans with a financing package worth US$30m. This will be used to purchase up to 500 open or other wagons for general freight, and for balance sheet restructuring. Eastcomtrans is one of the largest private freight ...
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NewsTransmash tests twin-engined shunter
RUSSIA: Transmashholding’s Bryansk Engineering Plant has completed 300 h of test running with its prototype TEM33 twin-engined shunting locomotive. This is based on the manufacturer’s TEM18DM design, but has two 571 kW Caterpillar C18 engines with MSV Elektronika control systems. The engines can operate individually or together, to reduce fuel ...
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NewsWorld Bank signs US$1·1bn Dedicated Freight Corridor loan
INDIA: The government, World Bank and project promoter Dedicated Freight Corridor Corp of India Ltd signed a US$1·1bn loan agreement to fund the second phase of the Eastern DFC on December 11. The 22-year International Bank for Reconstruction & Development loan has a seven-year grace period. The 1 839 ...
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NewsAntwerpen’s Liefkenshoek tunnel opens
BELGIUM: The 16·2 km Liefkenshoek rail link between the left and right banks of the River Schelde in the north of Antwerpen was officially opened on December 9, ahead of the start of commercial freight services on December 14. The electrified rail link including a 6 km twin-bore tunnel under ...
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NewsFrom China to Spain by rail
INTERNATIONAL: The first direct rail freight service to operate between China and Spain arrived at ADIF’s Madrid Abroñigal intermodal terminal on December 9, welcomed by Spanish Development Minister Ana Pastor. Carrying a total of 30 containers, the train had left Yiwu in China on November 18, covering 13 000 km ...
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NewsIran – Turkmenistan – Kazakhstan rail link inaugurated
ASIA: The final link in the north-south railway corridor connecting Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan was officially inaugurated on December 3, in a ceremony attended by Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov and his counterparts Hassan Rohani of Iran and Nursultan Nazarbaev of Kazakhstan. The celebrations at Incheh Borun on the border between ...
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NewsEurasian logistics accord signed
INTERNATIONAL: Further steps to improve and expand the operation of international container trains between China, Russia and Europe are envisaged under a co-operation agreement between Russian Railways Logistics and the Zhengzhou International Land Port Development & Construction Co. Signed at an international logistics congress in Zhengzhou on November 27 by ...
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NewsGovernment seeks to accelerate Trans-Sumatra railway project
INDONESIA: President Joko Widodo has reconfirmed the government’s commitment to construction of a 2 168 route-km railway across the island of Sumatra, linking three disparate 1 067 mm gauge networks. Outlining the government’s infrastructure priorities for the 2015-19 period, Widodo said on November 27 that a feasibility study for the ...
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NewsBNSF announces $6bn capital programme
USA: BNSF Railway has announced a $6bn capital expenditure programme for 2015, the third year in a row it has committed a record amount for capital investments. The company has also updated its planned capital expenditures for 2014, which now are expected to total $5·5bn. The largest component of the ...
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NewsTraxx Last Mile to Turkey and back
EUROPE: Bombardier Transportation and ÖBB's freight division Rail Cargo Group have completed a 4 000 km trial run using a Traxx AC Last Mile locomotive to haul a freight train from Sopron on the Austrian-Hungarian border, through Romania and Bulgaria to Tekirdag near Istanbul and back. Rail Cargo Group currently ...
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NewsKéRail iron ore line opens
CANADA: The inaugural train on a 21 km rail spur serving Tata Steel Minerals Canada’s Direct Shipping Ore Project in the Labrador Trough near Schefferville was operated by Genesee & Wyoming subsidiary KéRail on November 2. From Schefferville-Knob Lake Junction the iron ore is transported over the Tshiuetin Rail Transportation ...
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NewsG&W to buy Arkansas lines
USA: An agreement for Genesee & Wyoming Inc to acquire Pinsly Railroad Co’s Arkansas Division was announced on November 19. Subject to regulatory approval the transaction is expected to close in early January, with G&W paying $40m in cash adjusted for final working capital. G&W estimates that Pinsly Arkansas will ...