Freight news – Page 150
-
NewsCSX announces $2·3bn investment plan
USA: CSX Corp announced a 2013 capital spending programme worth $2·3bn on January 23, saying the investment would support initiatives to help meet long-term demand, improve customer service and support the company's long-term growth aims. Excluding coal traffic, growth is predicted to be at a rate above the general economy ...
-
NewsBNSF announces $4·1bn capital spending programme
USA: The 2013 capital spending programme announced by BNSF on January 18 has a total value of $4·1bn, an increase of $450m on 2012. The largest component is $2·3bn allocated to infrastructure and related assets on the 52 000 km network, which serves 28 US states and two Canadian provinces. ...
-
NewsRail network proposed in Sulawesi
INDONESIA: The six provincial governments of Sulawesi have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Transport to draft a development plan for the construction of up to 2 000 km of railway under the government’s MP3EI national infrastructure programme. According to Deputy Transport Minister Bambang Susantono, the next ...
-
NewsTurkish PowerHaul order confirmed
TURKEY: Plans to build 50 PowerHaul diesel locomotives in Eskişehir over the next two years were announced by General Electric and Tülomsaş on January 14. Under the strategic partnership between the two companies, the Turkish builder is to assemble 20 locomotives for state railway TCDD and a further 30 for ...
-
NewsFreight operator NefteTransService announces London IPO
RUSSIA: Private rail freight operator NefteTransService announced plans for an IPO in London on January 15. Completion is planned during the first half of 2013, with a post-IPO free float of about 25%. JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Renaissance Capital are acting as joint global co-ordinators and joint bookrunners. ...
-
NewsEBRD supports mixed-gauge rail terminal
MOLDOVA: The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development is providing a US$12m loan to finance the construction of a rail terminal with 1 435 mm and 1 520 mm gauge tracks at Danube Logistics' Giurgiulesti International Free Port. Located where Moldova, Romania and Ukraine meet at the confluence of the ...
-
NewsPioneer Railcorp buys Maumee & Western Railroad
USA: The Michigan Southern Railroad Co subsidiary of short line group Pioneer Railcorp completed the purchase of Maumee & Western Railroad Corp from RMW Ventures in late December. The 80 km line linking Woodburn, Indiana, and Liberty Center, Ohio, will be operated under the name Napoleon, Defiance & Western Railway. ...
-
NewsRailway planned to link steel plant and port
CAMBODIA: Under an agreement worth up to US$11bn, a 405 km north-south railway is to be constructed as part of a Chinese-funded investment to build steel production and port facilities in the country. The railway would be built by China Railway Group under contract to the Chinese-backed ...
-
NewsStandard gauge ambition in Mozambique
MOZAMBIQUE: A local subsidiary of Kazakhstan-based based Eurasian Natural Resources Corp has commissioned Mott MacDonald to undertake studies and is seeking expressions of interest in building a 1200 km standard gauge line from Chiuta in Tete province to a new port at Nacala, bypassing Malawi. Operations could start in 2015. ...
-
NewsSecond China - Kazakhstan rail link inaugurated
ASIA: A second international rail connection between China and Kazakhstan was officially inaugurated on December 22, when two special trains were operated to the border crossing at Korgas in Xinjiang province. The break-of-gauge transfer facility forms part of a free trade zone at Korgas, known as the International Centre for ...
-
NewsSTB approves RailAmerica acquisition
USA: Genesee & Wyoming Inc announced on December 20 that the Surface Transportation Board had approved its application to take control of the RailAmerica short line group. The change of control was expected to take effect on December 28, provided that no objections had been received by STB before December ...
-
NewsLEAFs on the line
USA: Railserve has recently completed production of its first three Dual LEAF locomotives. Based on the company’s ‘Lower Emissions And Fuel’ shunting design, the Dual LEAF has two genset power modules with Cummins QSX-15 engines of 600 hp, larger frames and increased capacity sand reservoirs. ‘The 32 Railserve single genset ...
-
NewsRZD unveils wagon for piggyback or container traffic
RUSSIA: An experimental 'universal' flat wagon designed by JSC Ruzkhimmash to carry either articulated lorries or containers was unveiled in Moscow on December 14. The wagon was commissioned by RZD, which expects to obtain certification for operation by the third quarter of 2013 and envisages that any wagon manufacturer would ...
-
NewsEBRD funds Ukrainian wagon renewal
UKRAINE: The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development is providing national railway UZ with a loan of up to US$62·5m to finance the purchase of general-purpose wagons under its rolling stock renewal programme. A similar loan was provided by EBRD in 2009. The bank says it has now committed more ...
-
NewsRail Technical Strategy launched
UK: A 30-year vision for the evolution of railway technology was outlined on December 13 with the publication in London of the 2012 Rail Technical Strategy. Unlike the 2007 version which had been prepared by the Department for Transport, the document has been developed by the pan-industry Technical Leadership Strategy ...
-
NewsVale starts work on Nacala corridor
MALAWI: Brazilian mining group Vale officially launched the construction of its US$1·1bn heavy haul freight corridor to the port of Nacala on December 6, when the President of Malawi Joyce Banda laid a foundation stone at Neno. The ceremony was attended by representatives from the governments of both Malawi and ...
-
NewsRussian Railways to offer piggyback services next year
RUSSIA: Russian Railways expects to obtain certification early next year for the operation of piggyback trains in Russia, the CIS and the European Union, RZD Senior Vice-President Valentin Gapanovich told the 1520 Strategic Partnership forum in Astana. The first deployment is expected to be between Helsinki, St Petersburg and Moscow ...
-
NewsQueen Beatrix inaugurates the Hanze Line
NETHERLANDS: The 50 km Hanze Line between Lelystad and Zwolle was officially opened on December 6 with a ceremony attended by Queen Beatrix and Transport Minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen. After a presentation at Lelystad, the Queen rode the inaugural train to Zwolle, accompanied by several ministers and other ...
-
NewsDB Schenker Polska places largest Vectron order
POLAND: Siemens announced on December 5 that it had received an order to supply 23 Vectron electric locomotives to freight operator DB Schenker Rail Polska SA. According to the manufacturer, ‘this is the largest order that Siemens has received so far’ for its modular Vectron family. ‘This is already the ...
-
NewsKatzenberg cut-off inaugurated
GERMANY: Federal Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer joined the celebrations at Efringen-Kirchen on December 4 to mark the formal opening of a 17·6 km cut-off at the southern end of Deutsche Bahn’s Rhein Valley line in Baden-Württemberg. He was accompanied by DB Chairman Rüdiger Grube, Baden-Württemberg’s Transport Minister Winfried Hermann and ...