Freight news – Page 151
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NewsCP seeks DM&E exit
USA: Canadian Pacific announced on December 4 that it was inviting expressions of interest from prospective partners as it explored ‘strategic options’ for the future of 1 056 km of the former Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad. Running west from Tracy, Minnesota, to Rapid City, South Dakota, and including branches ...
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NewsEKZ inaugurates Astana locomotive plant
KAZAKHSTAN: The EKZ joint venture of national railway KTZ, Alstom Transport and Transmashholding held an inauguration ceremony for its locomotive production plant in Astana attended by the country’s President Nursultan Nazarbaev on December 4. As part of a technology transfer agreement with the French supplier, EKZ will ...
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NewsPirna depot topped out
GERMANY: Captrain Deutschland subsidiary ITL Eisenbahngesellschaft held a topping-out ceremony for a new depot at Pirna near Dresden on November 23. The 38 000 m2 facility will have a four-track workshop, spare parts stores, offices, 3 000 m of sidings and facilities for testing locomotives under different electrification systems. ...
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NewsDual-voltage loco to serve the Seikan Tunnel
JAPAN: The first of 20 dual-system electric locomotives being built by Toshiba for national rail freight operator JR Freight was unveiled at the manufacturer’s Fuchu factory in Tokyo on November 27. The Series EH800 Bo-Bo+Bo-Bo locomotives are intended to haul 1 067 mm gauge freight services between Honshu and Hokkaido ...
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NewsEVRAZ sells wagon business to NefteTransService
RUSSIA: Steel, mining and vanadium business EVRAZ signed an agreement to sell its EvrazTrans rail freight subsidiary to NefteTransService on November 22. The transaction is worth approximately US$300m, and subject to regulatory approval is expected to close by the end of the year. The deal includes assets worth US$243m, including ...
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NewsRefrigerated container service launched
INDIA: South Central Railway has announced the launch of its first refrigerated container service in partnership with Container Corp Of India Ltd. The inaugural train was flagged off from Sanatnagar Container Depot in Hyderabad on November 7, carrying seven refrigerated containers of pharmaceutical products for export through Jawaharlal Nehru Port ...
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NewsRail motorway, electrification and passenger plans announced
FRANCE: Visiting Boulogne-sur-Mer on November 12, Transport Minister Frédéric Cuvillier announced that a third piggyback service is to be launched to connect Bayonne near the Spanish border with Dourges south of Lille. Expected to start operations around 2015, the Autoroute Ferroviairie Atlantique would run via Bordeaux and Longueau. Cuvillier also ...
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NewsRZD to order 675 locomotives
RUSSIA: A letter of intent for Russian Railways to order 675 electric freight locomotives from the Ural Locomotives joint venture of Sinara Transport Machines and Siemens was signed when German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on November 16. Firm orders are to be agreed and ...
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NewsChords separate freight and inter-city trains
UK: On November 14 Transport Minister Simon Burns officially opened the Nuneaton North Chord, a 1·4 km link designed to remove conflicts between freight and inter-city trains on a key section of the West Coast Main Line. Intermodal trains from the port of Felixstowe previously had to cross the WCML ...
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NewsCZ Loko wins Belarus locomotive order
BELARUS: Czech manufacturer CZ Loko has won a €20m contract to supply Belarus Railways with 20 locomotives for shunting and light main line freight duties. Designated TME3 by Belarus Railways, the locomotives will be a 1 520 mm gauge version of CZ Loko's Effishunter design which was launched in 2008. ...
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NewsWagon covers could save fuel
USA: Computer modelling and wind tunnel tests have indicated that using fibreglass covers on freight wagons could improve their aerodynamics sufficiently to bring significant fuel savings, according to Structural Composites of Indiana. The company has established a new business, United Railcar Covers, to handle its activities in the rail ...
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NewsAxiom suspension system approved
EUROPE: DB Schenker Rail (UK) company Axiom Rail has received approval for its TF25E suspension system to operate throughout Europe, following a programme of testing in Germany and France in accordance with EN14363 (UIC518/UIC518-2) at speeds up to 120 km/h and axleloads up to 25 tonnes. Designed for speeds ...
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NewsEuroporte and Cerevia launch Bourgogne Fret Service
FRANCE: Bourgogne Fret Service has been launched to serve freight customers in the Bourgogne region. It is owned by Eurotunnel rail freight subsidiary Europorte (67%) and the Cérévia agricultural co-operative (33%). The partners have co-operated since 2010, when Cérévia awarded Europorte a contract to transport 390 000 tonnes of wheat ...
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NewsFirst Vectron handed over to Railpool
GERMANY: The first of six Vectron electric locomotives ordered by leasing company Railpool was formally handed over by Siemens Rail Systems Division CEO Dr Jochen Eickholt on November 7. The Railpool joint venture of HSH Nordbank and KfW IPEX-Bank was the first customer for the Vectron modular locomotive family, placing ...
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NewsInteroperability call on Brazil's new freight corridors
BRAZIL: Common standards should be adopted to ensure interoperability across the 10 000 km of new freight railway corridors to be developed by the federal government over the next 15 years, according to national railway industry association Abifer. Speaking on November 6 at the first Metroferroviário conference, being held alongside ...
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NewsCentral Asian strategic transport plan agreed
ASIA: Meeting at Wuhan in China at the end of October, ministers from the 10 Central Asia Regional Economic Co-operation Program countries agreed an action plan to implement transport infrastructure projects costing more than US$23bn, together with energy and trade initiatives aimed at improving connectivity. The majority of the medium-term ...
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NewsRussian Railways Logistics to cut two days from China - Europe timings
INTERNATIONAL: The YuXinOu (Chongqing) Logistics joint venture has despatched its first container train from China to Europe using the CIM/SMGS Common Consignment Note. Using documentation meeting the legal requirements of both OTIF's CIM and OSJD's SMGS rules reduces costs to shippers, as there is no need to issue new notes ...
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NewsChina Northern wins TasRail wagon contract
AUSTRALIA: TasRail has awarded China Northern's CNR Australia subsidiary a contract to supply 191 wagons from mid-2013. The order covers 36 ore wagons, 17 coal wagons, 18 for cement traffic and 120 for containerised freight on the 1067 mm gauge network. Announcing the deal on October 24, Tasmania's state owned ...
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NewsFrench reforms will focus on streamlining infrastructure management
FRANCE: Speaking at celebrations in Paris on October 30 to mark the 75th anniversary of SNCF, Transport Minister Frédéric Cuvillier outlined his thinking on the forthcoming reform of the rail sector, following the ‘national debate’ held last year. Structural reforms to create ‘a French model’ are explored in a ...
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NewsChinese loan agreements revive trans-Laos project
LAOS: Vientiane has agreed to accept US$7bn of loans from China to restart construction of the stalled 420 km north-south railway linking the capital to China’s Yunnan province via Phônhông, Vangvieng, Luang Phabang, Oudomxay and Louang Namtha. The cross-border project dates back to 2009, when an agreement ...