Freight news – Page 137
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NewsAlstom awarded ScotRail EMU refurbishment contract
UK: Leasing company Eversholt Rail has awarded Alstom a two-year contract worth £36·1m to modernise 40 Class 334 three-car 25 kV electric multiple-units. These were built by Alstom in 1999-2001 and are operated by ScotRail. The work is due to start in early 2015. It will be led by Alstom’s ...
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NewsChallenging and frustrating year hits KiwiRail
NEW ZEALAND: KiwiRail has had a ‘challenging’ and ‘frustrating’ financial year, the national railway announced on August 29, adding that it is ‘cautious about the outlook for 2015’, particularly in the commodities sector. KiwiRail warned that it ‘cannot rely on revenue growth alone to get us to a sustainable position’. ...
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NewsARG Transportation selected to revive central Washington line
USA: Washington State Department of Transportation has selected San Pedro & Southwestern Railroad and Coos Bay Rail Link operator ARG Transportation to revive freight services on the 40 km Othello – Royal City line in central Washington. ARG is to spend six months determining interest from prospective customers. If the ...
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NewsFRA funds Short Line Safety Institute
USA: The Federal Railroad Administration has awarded grants of $250 000 to the American Short Line & Regional Railroad Association and $100 000 to the University of Connecticut to support the development of a Short Line Safety Institute. SLSI is intended to help mitigate the risks associated with shipping hazardous ...
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NewsTrans-Kazakhstan railway opens
KAZAKHSTAN: President Nursultan Nazarbayev gave the signal to launch operations on east-west and north-south lines totalling 1 200 km on August 22. Speaking to staff at stations along the routes from a teleconference in Zhezkazgan, Nazarbayev said the opening of two routes on the same day was a first ...
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NewsTemperature control on China - Europe trains
CONTAINER: UNIT45 has developed a 45 ft diesel-electric temperature-controlled container designed for China - Europe rail journeys of up to 20 days. 'By incorporating a specially designed 800 litre diesel tank into the power unit, we have solved the problem that most rail operators cannot provide a reliable power supply ...
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NewsJump into a virtual world
TRAINING: Pennant has produced a prototype Goods Yard Shunter Trainer by combining virtual reality goggles with computer simulation technology originally developed for training military parachutists. Simulation is an established tool for driver training, says John Churchman, Senior Business Development Manager, but 'we now have the ability to place an individual ...
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NewsAkiem orders more Traxx Locomotives
EUROPE: Bombardier Transportation has signed a contract to supply leasing company Akiem with 10 Traxx DC locomotives for use on freight services in Italy and Poland. The order announced on August 21 is worth €33m at list prices. An option for up to 10 more could take the total ...
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NewsChina to Brazil by train and plane
INTERNATIONAL: DB Schenker combined its rail, lorry and air freight services to deliver a 21 tonne shipment of mobile phone components from China to Brazil for the first time, with a journey time of 24 days compared to between 50 and 55 days by sea. The components travelled 10 124 ...
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NewsGE builds metre gauge Evolution
BRAZIL: GE Transportation has announced the development of the Evolution ES43BBi design, an eight-axle diesel freight locomotive aimed at the 1 000 mm gauge railways which with a total length of 23 000 km form 80% of the national network. Featuring GE’s new AC traction motor for 1 000 mm ...
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NewsHeavier loads permitted over the Brenner
ITALY: Following a series of trials and technical studies, infrastructure manager RFI has approved the operation of 1 500 tonne trains on the Brenner route to Austria for a trial period of one year. The ability to operate long trains on the corridor is a ‘a real revolution for freight ...
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NewsTwo interested in Cowra Lines revival
AUSTRALIA: Transport for New South Wales has received submissions from Australian Rail Partners and Cowra Rail Co in response to its call for private sector proposals to reopen the 200 km Cowra Lines on a commercially-sustainable basis under a fixed-term licence. Operations between Blayney and Demondrille and Koorawatha and ...
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NewsLong-life cargo tracker
FREIGHT: Now available from Hunter Global Tracking is the Bulldog cargo tracker unit. This cable-free device is distinguished by a battery life of up to 15 years, allowing the user to ‘fit and forget’. The long life is achieved by the battery working in ‘deep coma’ mode, only ‘waking up’ ...
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NewsPacific National takes delivery of locomotives
AUSTRALIA: Pacific National has taken delivery of the first two of seven N-ViroMotive genset locomotives ordered from National Railway Equipment Co, and has begun testing five heavy haul locomotives supplied by CSR Qishuyan earlier this year. The NRE locomotives with Cummins QSK19 engines were custom designed for use at the ...
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NewsLatvia develops electrification plans
LATVIA: National railway LDz is developing plans to spend an estimated €450m on 25 kV electrification of its main lines, including the Riga – Ventspils and Riga – Daugavpils routes and conversion of the existing 248 km of 3 kV DC electrification radiating from Riga. This would be in addition ...
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NewsTransnet secures US guarantee for GE loco financing
SOUTH AFRICA: Freight operator Transnet has secured a R6bn guarantee from the USA’s export credit agency to support the financing of 293 diesel locomotives which GE is to supply, including an order for 233 announced in March. Transnet said the Ex-Im Bank guarantee announced on August 6 would enable it ...
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News13 MW electric locomotive to tackle Siberian gradients
RUSSIA: ‘The most powerful AC electric freight locomotive in the world’ was unveiled by Transmashholding’s Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Plant and Russian Railways as part of Railwaymen’s Day celebrations in Rostov-na-Donu on August 3. The four-section 4ES5K has a 1 h rating of 13·12 MW. This is intended to be sufficient ...
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NewsA good look around
USA: The Hi-Vis cab has been designed by US locomotive supplier Motive Power & Equipment Solutions to offer shunting locomotive drivers improved all-round visibility for safe operation at industrial sites. Locomotives with older cab designs and large bonnets can have blind spots, but MP&ES says the Hi-Vis has minimal ...
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NewsIsrael Railways calls tenders for electric locomotives
ISRAEL: Israel Railways has called tenders for the supply of between 62 and 78 electric locomotives, with options for more. These are required as part of ISR’s 25 kV 50 Hz electrification programme. ISR is seeking mixed traffic locomotives with three-phase asynchronous traction equipment. These should be suitable for regenerative ...
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NewsGBW Railcar Services established
USA: The Greenbrier Companies and Watco announced the formal establishment of their equally-owned GBW Railcar Services wagon repair joint venture on July 21. The companies said GBW has ‘the largest independent railcar repair shop network in North America’, with a total of 38 repair, refurbishment and maintenance workshops. ‘GBW will ...