Freight news – Page 143
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NewsSustainable freight programme hits midpoint
EUROPE: A conference held at UIC’s Paris headquarters on December 4 marked the mid-point of the EU-funded Sustrail research programme to ‘integrate vehicle and track innovations for a more sustainable freight railway’. Running to May 2015, Sustrail brings together a range of academic institutions, train operators, infrastructure managers and suppliers ...
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NewsMakhalino - Hunchun cross-border railway upgraded
ASIA: The first revenue train carried coal over the reopened cross-border line between Makhalino in Russia and Hunchun in China on December 17. The line opened in 1999 but services were suspended in 2004. The infrastructure has now been upgraded by Russian Railways' Far Eastern Railway for use by transit ...
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NewsConcession signed for construction of 525 km coal railway
MOZAMBIQUE: Two concession agreements for the construction of a coal export port at Macuse in Zambezia province and a 525 km railway to the Moatize coalfields in Tete province were signed on December 13. The agreements were signed by Minister of Transport & Communications Gabriel Muthisse and Premchai Karnasuta, President ...
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NewsVossloh España unveils Direct Rail Services Class 68
UK: Class 68 diesel locomotive 68002 was formally presented to Direct Rail Services Chief Executive Neil McNicholas on December 10. Harry Hondius reports from the Vossloh España plant in Albuixech.
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NewsPKP Cargo terminates Chinese wagon joint venture
POLAND: Freight operator PKP Cargo and CNR subsidiary Jinan Railway Vehicles are to wind up the CNR Cargo Wagon joint venture which they established in 2010. The partners had planned to assemble kits of wagon parts supplied from China at a PKP Cargo site in Szczecin, estimating that using Chinese ...
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NewsFunding agreed for Belgrano upgrade
ARGENTINA: President Cristina Fernández and Minister of the Interior & Transport Florencio Randazzo met with China Machinery Engineering Corp President Zhang Chun on December 5, as the government signed a funding agreement for a US$2·47bn upgrade of the Belgrano Cargas network, comprising 7 347 route-km mostly in northern Argentina. CMEC ...
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News‘MoKaKi’ project breaks ground in Mombasa
KENYA: A ceremony led by President Uhuru Kenyatta in Mombasa on November 28 marked the start of construction of the first phase of the planned 2 937 km standard gauge cross-border corridor linking the Kenyan port city with Kampala in Uganda and the Rwandan capital Kigali. The initial phase of ...
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NewsBridge boosts capacity in Missouri
USA: Union Pacific Railroad opened a bridge over the Osage River at Jefferson City, Missouri, on November 25 as part of a capacity enhancement programme on the 455 km Kansas City – St Louis route. The 365 m structure carries a double-track alignment and removes one of the most significant ...
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NewsAutomotive wagon launch
SOUTH AFRICA: Car-carrying wagons developed by Transnet Engineering's Uitenhage plant to meet the specifications of car manufacturers were officially launched by South Africa's President Zuma on November 5. Transnet is building 350 of the wagons by January 2014 as part of its R307bn seven-year infrastructure improvement programme. The new wagons ...
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NewsColas Rail orders 10 GE Transportation PowerHaul locomotives
UK: GE Transportation officially announced an order to supply 10 Class 70 PowerHaul locomotives to freight operator Colas Rail on November 21. The locomotives are to be assembled at GE Transportation's Erie plant for entry into service in 2014. Stephen Haynes, Managing Director of Colas Rail Services, said the order ...
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NewsWatco invests in Michigan short line company
USA: Short line holding company Watco Transportation Services has announced a definitive agreement to make a preferred equity investment in Federated Capital Holdings, the parent company of Great Lakes Central Railroad and Federated Railcars. Class II railway GLCR operates a 640 km network in Michigan running from Ann Arbor north ...
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NewsETF orders Euro 4000 locomotives
FRANCE: On November 19 Vossloh España announced an order for two Euro 4000 diesel locomotives from railway infrastructure maintenance and construction contractor ETF. Due to enter service before summer 2014, the locomotives are to be used to haul infrastructure materials for two high speed construction projects, Phase 2 of LGV ...
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NewsRussian Railways' 1·2tr rouble three-year investment plan
RUSSIA: The government met on November 14 to consider the draft three-year investment and financial plan for Russian Railways. This envisages spending 396bn roubles in 2014, 415bn roubles in 2015 and 438bn roubles in 2016. 'This is a lot, but then, the company's tasks are challenging too', said Prime Minister ...
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NewsDrivers taking the tablets
BELGIUM: Freight operator SNCB Logistics has provided all its drivers with Samsung tablet computers under the Rail Information Train Assistant project. RITA eliminates the need to carry heavy documentation such as manuals and details of timetable updates. It speeds up the completion of time sheets and driver’s reports, with all ...
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NewsMining firms to have access to Chemin de fer Congo-Océan
CONGO: The government has confirmed that it will allow Australian mine developer Equatorial Resources to use the 1 067 mm gauge Chemin de fer Congo-Océan to export iron ore from its proposed Mayoko-Moussondji mine. The Ministry of Transport has agreed that CFCO and Pointe-Noire port authority PAPN ...
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NewsCoal wagon delivery
BOTSWANA: South Africa’s Transnet Engineering is delivering 30 coal wagons, 260 salt wagons and 272 general purpose wagons to Botswana Railways. The national operator is upgrading its fleet and has also called tenders for the supply of eight diesel locomotives. The coal wagons have entered traffic on ...
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NewsFlat rate for China to Europe container traffic
INTERNATIONAL: On November 7 a timetable for the establishment of jointly-owned intermodal freight operator United Transport & Logistics Co was agreed in Astana by President of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin, First Deputy Head of Belarusian Railways Vladimir Mikhailyuk and President of Kazakh national railway KTZ Askar Mamin. UTLC is expected ...
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NewsIndian Railways launches twin-cab diesel freight locomotive
INDIA: Minister of Railways Shri Mallikarjun Kharge visited the Diesel Locomotive Works at Varanasi on November 6 to formally flag off the prototype WDG4D locomotive Vijay, which Indian Railways says is the first twin-cab diesel-electric freight locomotive it has built. IR has traditionally used single cab designs, but as locomotives ...
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NewsRail Freight Alliance formed
UK: Five leading rail freight operators announced on October 31 that they had formed a new alliance with infrastructure manager Network Rail, ‘with a view to delivering a sustainable and flourishing rail freight sector’. The five are DB Schenker Rail UK, Freightliner Group, GB Railfreight, Direct Rail Services and Colas ...
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NewsFertiliser wagon deliveries underway
RUSSIA: Fertiliser and chemical transport company Acron-Trans is taking delivery of 400 mineral fertiliser hopper wagons ordered from United Wagon Co's leasing business Rail1520 under a three-year lease. The wagons are being built by United Wagon Co's Tikhvin Railway Car Building Plant for delivery by January 2014. They are fitted ...