Freight news – Page 139
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NewsDoncaster North Chord grade separation completed
UK: The 3·2 km Doncaster North Chord, built to carry east–west freight trains above the north–south East Coast Main Line on a new bridge, carried its first revenue freight trains on June 1. The grade separation project is designed to eliminate the need for slow-moving bulk freight trains from the ...
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NewsRapid City, Pierre & Eastern Railroad begins operations
USA: The newly-established Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern Railroad subsidiary of short line and regional railway group Genesee & Wyoming began operating freight trains on the west end of the former Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern network on June 1. This follows the completion of a deal to acquire around 1 ...
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NewsGovernor launches Indiana Gateway project
USA: Indiana governor Mike Pence joined FRA Deputy Administrator Karen Hedlund, Amtrak's Chief of State Contracts Michael Franke and Norfolk Southern Assistant Vice-President Jeff Harris at Hammond on May 29 to mark the start of work on the US$71·4m Indiana Gateway project. This is intended to relieve congestion and accelerate ...
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NewsHistoric day for North-South Railway
BRAZIL: On May 22 President Dilma Rousseff officially opened the 855 km section of the North-South Railway between Porto Nacional in Tocantins state and Anápolis in Goiás. Speaking at a ceremony in Anápolis on what she described as an ‘historic day’, Rousseff said that her government was taking forward the ...
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NewsGreenbrier announces alliance with Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance
USA: The Greenbrier Companies announced an ‘alliance’ with Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance on May 22, saying this would combine Greenbrier Leasing Co's expertise in wagon leasing and management with MUL's experience of asset finance. MUL plans to acquire a $1bn portfolio of new and used wagons in the coming ...
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NewsRio Tinto ready to test automated operation
AUSTRALIA: Rio Tinto Iron Ore has confirmed its intention to ‘soft launch’ its AutoHaul project before the end of May, to test the automatic operation of heavy haul freight trains. The initial run on the Hamersley line between Tom Price and the port at Dampier is described by an ...
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NewsDirect service from Chicago to Mexico
NORTH AMERICA: BNSF Railway and Ferromex have announced that on May 27 they are due to launch a direct intermodal service between Chicago and Silao in the Mexican state of Guanajuato. Container trains will be interchanged between the two railways at the El Paso/Ciudad Juárez border crossing, with Ferromex operating ...
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NewsUnited Wagon Co to enter tank wagon market
RUSSIA: United Wagon Co announced plans to develop a 3bn rouble tank wagon manufacturing facility at its Tikhvin site on May 19. Production is scheduled to begin in 2015, with an annual capacity of 3 000 chemical, LPG and petroleum wagons. The wagons are to be designed by UWC’s ...
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NewsShareholders vote on ALL merger
BRAZIL: Shareholders in América Latina Logística SA and Rumo Logística Operadora Multimodal SA approved a merger between the two companies on May 8. A subsidiary of energy and logistics group Cosan, Rumo had announced its proposal to acquire ALL on February 24, valuing the company at R$6·96bn or R$10·18 per ...
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NewsQueensland backs Carmichael heavy haul coal railway
AUSTRALIA: Queensland’s government has approved Adani Mining’s proposed A$16·5bn Carmichael coal mine and rail project, subject to environmental and social conditions. ‘This project has the potential to be the largest coal mine in Australia and one of the largest in the world’, said Deputy Premier and Minister for State ...
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NewsAzerbaijan Railways orders Alstom KZ8A freight locomotives
AZERBAIJAN: National railway ADDY has placed a €300m order for 50 Alstom KZ8A twin-section 25 kV AC electric freight locomotives to be delivered in 2016-18. The locomotives are to be supplied from Astana in Kazakhstan by the EKZ joint venture of Kazakh national railway KTZ (50%), Transmashholding (25%) and ...
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NewsGBRf leases Ecofret container wagons
UK: Following a successful 18-month trial with a single vehicle, on May 8 GB Railfreight announced it had agreed to lease 18 Ecofret triple-platform container wagons from VTG Rail UK for five years. Deliveries of the 17 extra wagons will run from November 2014 to early 2015. The Ecofret wagon ...
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NewsMelbourne Rail Link in A$14·5bn rail funding announcement
AUSTRALIA: 'The largest investment in transport infrastructure in Victoria's history' was announced by the state's coalition government in its 2014-15 budget on May 6. The A$24bn of planned road and rail infrastructure spending includes A$14·5bn for rail, with the biggest rail projects being the Melbourne Rail Link and the Cranbourne ...
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NewsHeavier haul in China
CHINA: CNR has rolled out a high-power electric locomotive designed for heavy haul trains comprising 100 tonne wagons with axleloads up to 30 tonnes. CNR says its 9·6 MW ‘Super Hercules’ locomotives can pull 20% heavier loads than previous models. Meanwhile, China Railway Corp, China Academy of Railway Sciences ...
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NewsEurotunnel cuts freight charges
EUROPE: Channel Tunnel concessionaire Eurotunnel announced a reduction in track access charges of up to 50% on April 28, saying it hopes this will lead to a doubling of the number of freight trains through the tunnel to 5 000 per year in 2018. The announcement follows the European Commission ...
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NewsEconomical shunter unveiled
CANADA: TractivePower Corp has unveiled its TP56 three-axle industrial switcher, primarily intended to compete in the 'railcar mover' market, shunting wagons in industrial sidings. It makes use of readily available off-the-shelf industrial and railway components, and has been designed to be serviced in the field. The TP56 is powered by ...
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NewsFreightliner announces London Gateway services
UK: Freightliner Ltd announced on April 17 that is to launch daily services from London Gateway to six destinations in the UK. During May shipping lines Hamburg Süd and Hapag-Lloyd are due to transfer their UK calls to the new container port on the Thames, including services to the east ...
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NewsCanada announces tank wagon safety changes
CANADA: On April 23 Minister of Transport Lisa Raitt announced the federal government’s response to the initial recommendations arising from Transportation Safety Board of Canada's ongoing investigation into the July 2013 Lac-Mégantic derailment. With immediate effect, Transport Canada will: ban DOT-111 tank cars which do not have continuous bottom ...
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NewsMP&ES announces natural gas locomotive
USA: Following two years of technology evaluation, Motive Power & Equipment Solutions has announced plans to launch the Greenville MP1500, a low-emissions genset locomotive which would be fuelled by a combination of natural gas and diesel. MP&ES is working with technology partner OptiFuel Systems to develop the 1 500 hp ...