Freight news – Page 135
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NewsNorfolk Southern announces plan to acquire Delaware & Hudson line
USA: On November 17 Norfolk Southern Corp announced plans to acquire 455 km of track between Sunbury, Pennsylvania, and Schenectady, New York, from the Delaware & Hudson Railway Co subsidiary of Canadian Pacific Railway. The US$217m purchase is subject to approval by the Surface Transportation Board, which the railways hope ...
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NewsCZ Loko to remanufacture Latvian freight locos
LATVIA: National operator LDz has selected CZ Loko to remanufacture 14 Type 2M62U twin-section diesel locomotives used by its freight subsidiary LDz Cargo. LDz currently has a fleet of 30 Lugansk-built 2M62Us, dating from 1987, along with 40 of the older 2M62s and 33 single-section M62s. Two of the 2M62Us ...
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NewsSelf-propelled wagon prototype
CROATIA: A self-propelled wagon fitted with a 55 kW diesel generator and hydraulic transmission giving it the ability to move around worksites at up to 100 km/h under remote control has been developed by RZV Čakovec and partners. The prototype has two ballast hoppers which can be hydraulically tipped in ...
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NewsNorthern Mongolian Rail Corridor agreement signed
MONGOLIA: The Northern Railways rail infrastructure subsidiary of Aspire Mining has signed an engineering, procurement and construction framework agreement with China Railway 20 Bureau Group covering Phase 1 of the Northern Mongolian Rail Corridor. This follows parliament’s approval of the government’s national rail policy in October. Phase 1 of ...
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NewsAdvanced Train Management System trial contract signed
AUSTRALIA: Live testing of the Advanced Train Management System is set to begin shortly, following the signing of a contract between infrastructure manager Australian Rail Track Corp and Lockheed Martin Australia. The two-year trial is to be undertaken between Whyalla and Port Augusta in South Australia. ATMA uses GPS ...
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NewsMervis Industries announces $35m wagon refurbishment plant
USA: Following a multi-state search, the Mervis Railcar division of recycling company Mervis Industries has selected Hutchinson, Kansas, as the site for a $35m wagon refurbishment plant to serve the oil, fuel, agricultural and other industries. Announcing its decision on October 30, the company said the Hutchinson site would ‘be ...
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NewsQueensland port and rail lease
AUSTRALIA: The Queensland government has announced plans to award a long-term lease to operate state-owned assets including the 1000 km Mount Isa line and the associated port of Port Townsville. The 1067 mm gauge single track line is a critical link between inland mining areas and the coast. The ...
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NewsMogilev Carriage Works delivers modern wagons
BELARUS: Mogilev Carriage Works has delivered its first batch of wagons built to modern designs developed under a November 2013 co-operation agreement with Russia’s United Wagon Co, which supplied components including the 25 tonne axleload bogies. The 50 bottom-discharge open wagons of 75 tonne capacity have been delivered to Vostok1520 ...
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NewsGATX and Trinity announce four-year wagon deal
USA: An agreement for Trinity Industries to supply leasing company GATX with 8 950 wagons over four years was announced on November 3. The majority of the order will be for tank cars. The agreement comes into effect in 2016 when an existing five-year deal covering 12 500 wagons ...
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NewsGB Railfreight operates first Channel Tunnel train
EUROPE: UK freight operator GB Railfreight ran its first service through the Channel Tunnel on the night of November 3, hauling a Dourges – London intermodal service between Calais-Fréthun and Barking International Rail Freight Terminal. The train was operated under a ‘hook-and-haul’ agreement with sister Groupe Eurotunnel company Europorte ...
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NewsAfghan railway tendering begins
AFGHANISTAN: The Afghanistan Railway Authority has invited expressions of interest in three performance-based contracts to operate, maintain and manage the 75 km railway from Hairatan on the Uzbek border to a freight terminal near Mazar-i-Sharif. Responses from ‘experienced, high calibre and competent national and international’ companies should be submitted to ...
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NewsNetwork Rail acquires leased freight sites from operators
UK: Infrastructure manager Network Rail completed the acquisition of the head leases for 105 sites from three freight operators on October 31, saying this would make the sites ‘more readily available to the growing number of rail freight operators and end users, increasing competition and supporting growth’. The transactions cover ...
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NewsGE delivering Florida East Coast Railway locos
USA: Florida East Coast Railway is about to take delivery of the first of 24 GE Transportation ES44C4 locomotives which it ordered in January. All of the Tier 3 compliant Evolution Series locomotives are scheduled to arrive in Florida by the end of the year. The four-motored locomotives will ...
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NewsCanaveral Port Authority seeks to revive NASA railway
USA: Canaveral Port Authority has announced its intention to apply to the Surface Transportation Board for powers to build and operate a rail link between its port on Atlantic and the Florida East Coast Railway near Titusville, Florida. This would eliminate the need for road haulage between the port and ...
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NewsMongolian parliament backs rail expansion
MONGOLIA: Parliament approved the government’s national rail policy on October 24. This sets out plans for the expansion of the network, and grants the government powers to call tenders and negotiate a build-operate-transfer concession for the planned Northern Rail Line. The 1 520 mm gauge multi-user mixed traffic Northern ...
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NewsShunting locos designed for Africa
SOUTH AFRICA: Grindrod Locomotives has launched the GS7 shunting locomotive, which is being offered to African operators by the GPR leasing joint venture of Grindrod Freight Services and Pembani Remgro Infrastructure Fund through dry leasing packages. Two models have been developed. The 1067 mm gauge two-axle GS7S2C weighs 40 tonnes ...
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NewsJoint venture to audit Borneo coal railway project
INDONESIA: Russian Railways and Austrian-Swiss contractor Rhomberg-Sersa have agreed to undertake a technical audit for the eastern Kalimantan coal railway project, for which RZD is providing technical support. Construction of the coal railway on the island of Borneo could begin in 2016, RZD says. According to a memorandum signed by ...
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NewsCP ends CSX merger talks
NORTH AMERICA: Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd announced on October 20 that an ‘exploratory conversation’ about a possible merger with CSX Corp had ended, and that no further talks were planned. CP confirmed that it had proposed a merger which it envisaged would create ‘an integrated coast-to-coast combination that would ...
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NewsAAE and Knorr-Bremse announce service partnership
EUROPE: The RailServices division of Knorr-Bremse has agreed a deal to supply brake valves to the network of workshops which maintains wagons owned by leasing company AAE. Under the agreement announced on October 14, Knorr-Bremse will supply remanufactured components to the workshops on a just-in-time basis. ‘As we no ...
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NewsFirst customer for metre gauge Evolution
BRAZIL: GE Transportation has announced its first order for the Evolution ES43BBi, an eight-axle diesel locomotive with AC traction motors developed specifically for 1 000 mm gauge railways in Brazil. Paper manufacturer Klabin has ordered seven locomotives to be delivered at the start of 2016. The locomotives will be used ...