Freight news – Page 155
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NewsRail motorways to serve Spain and Sweden
EUROPE: Announcing the rebranding of its 'rail motorway' business as VIIA on June 7, SNCF Geodis said that its Perpignan - Luxembourg service is to extended to Helsingborg in Sweden later this year. A southern extension into Spain is also being planned, following the successful conclusion of initial cross-border tests ...
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NewsDiesel-battery hybrid shunting locomotives leased
GERMANY: DB Schenker Rail subsidiary Mitteldeutsche Eisenbahn has leased five Alstom diesel-battery hybrid locomotives, which it will use for shunting at Dow Olefinverbund's Schkopau plant. The locomotives use a 250 kW Deutz six-cylinder diesel engine to charge a NiCd battery, giving a maximum output of 650 kW when required. 'This ...
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NewsMacedonian Railways launches fleet renewal programme
MACEDONIA: National train operator MZ Transport has announced details of a planned fleet renewal programme. Tenders are to be called in the third quarter of 2012 for the supply of up to four three-car diesel multiple-units, two three-car electric multiple-units, 150 wagons, the rehabilitation of three electric locomotives and the ...
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NewsBulgarian rail freight privatisation process launched
BULGARIA: Plans for the sale of the BDZ Tovarnni Prevosi freight business of national railway operator BDZ EAD were formally announced by the government's Privatisation & Post-Privatisation Control Agency on June 12. The agency said the aim of the sale is to allow the freight business to survive, modernise and ...
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News'Largest and most powerful' rack locomotive unveiled
BRAZIL: Swiss manufacturer Stadler Rail unveiled what it says is 'by far the largest and most powerful rack and pinion locomotive ever built' on June 6. MRS Logística placed a SFr60 order in 2010 for seven custom-designed 3 kV DC electric locomotives, which will be used to haul heavy iron ...
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NewsCIT Rail orders 3500 wagons
USA: On June 4 leasing company CIT Rail announced it had placed orders with several manufacturers for 3 500 wagons to be delivered in 2012-13. The orders include oil and gas tank wagons to support increased exploration and drilling activity, and covered hoppers for the plastic resin industry. The orders ...
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NewsUGL announces freight locomotive orders worth A$190m
AUSTRALIA: Four 'significant' orders to supply and maintain a total of 38 freight locomotives were announced by UGL Ltd on May 31. The total value of the contracts is A$190m. Rio Tinto has ordered an unspecified number of GE Evolution locomotives, taking the total number of GE/UGL locomotives ordered for ...
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NewsPrototype heavy haul locomotive on test
CHINA: CSR Zhuzhou is testing a prototype of a revised version of the HXD1 locomotive design. The twin-unit locomotive is rated at 9·6 MW, with a top speed of 120 km/h. It incorporates more domestic content than the original HXD1 design, which is expected to lower costs. The locomotive is ...
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News‘Basket turning’ high capacity ore wagons ordered
SWEDEN: Northland Resources has ordered a fleet of custom-designed wagons for its Kaunisvaara iron ore development which will use a ‘basket turning’ body to achieve a 98 tonne payload within a 30 tonne axleload limit, and has placed contracts for the transport of magnetite concentrate to the ...
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NewsIntegrated wagon tracking could improve productivity
RUSSIA: Proposals to develop a co-ordinated wagon tracking and reporting system covering the combined networks of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus were debated at the 1520 Strategic Partnership forum in Sochi on May 31. The hope is that an integrated system using advanced IT and automated reporting would improve productivity and ...
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NewsGas tank wagon lease signed
RUSSIA: Leasing firm Brunswick Rail announced a seven-year agreement to supply 150 gas tank wagons to the SIBUR-Trans subsidiary of petrochemicals group SIBUR on May 24. The type 15-1780 wagons built by Ukrainian firm Poltavhimmash are designed to carry propane and butane. The first 20 are expected to be delivered ...
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NewsEuroporte Channel trials piggyback to London
UK: Eurotunnel’s rail freight subsidiary Europorte Channel ran a trial train from Antwerpen to Barking on May 21-22 to demonstrate the feasibility of operating unaccompanied piggyback trains to London via High Speed 1, carrying P400 craneable semitrailers as used in mainland Europe. The test used a Sdggmiss two-section pocket wagon ...
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NewsGATX enters Indian wagon leasing market
INDIA: Via its GATX India subsidiary, Chicago-based wagon leasing firm GATX Corp has entered the Indian market with the purchase of 10 rakes of 45 container wagons. They will be leased to Arshiya Rail Infrastructure for 10 years. 'We are pleased to be the first leasing company registered under Indian ...
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NewsNew board elected at Canadian Pacific as President and Chairman stand down
CANADA: Just hours before its annual shareholder meeting, Canadian Pacific Railway announced on May 17 that President & CEO Fred Green was standing down with immediate effect, after 34 years with the company, and would not be standing for re-election. Chairman John Cleghorn expressed his thanks to Green for ‘his ...
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NewsPakistan's private rail freight plan awarded US funding
PAKISTAN: Private-sector logistics firm Premier Mercantile Services has been awarded a grant to study the feasibility of acquiring its own locomotive fleet. The US Trade & Development Agency signed the US$628 000 agreement on May 15. A US contractor is to be selected to undertake a feasibility study which would ...
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NewsSteelRiver to buy short line group Patriot Rail Corp
USA: Infrastructure investor SteelRiver Infrastructure Partners announced an agreement to acquire short line group Patriot Rail Corp on May 8. Patriot was formed in 2006 and now has 13 US short lines totalling 800 route-km in 13 states. 'Patriot is a highly complementary asset to our existing investment portfolio', said ...
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NewsMon-Hua coal line construction gets the go-ahead
CHINA: The National Development & Reform Commission has approved construction of the 1837 km Mongolia – Huazhong railway to carry coal from Ordos in Inner Mongolia south to Ji’an in Jiangxi via Yulin, Yan’an, Yuncheng, Sanmenxia, Nanyang, Xiangfan, Jingmen and Yuyang. Capacity on the north–south Mon-Hua line will start at ...
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NewsEtihad Rail to serve Jebel Ali Port
UAE: Proposals for the construction of an intermodal rail terminal at Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port were confirmed on May 8, when Etihad Rail signed a Memorandum of Understanding with port developer DP World. The agreement was signed by Etihad Rail Chairman Nasser Al Sowaidi and Chairman of DP World Sultan ...
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NewsVTG launches EcoFret wagon at Multimodal 2012
UK: A prototype three-section flat wagon designed specifically to carry 40 ft deep-sea containers was unveiled by European wagon leasing group VTG Rail at the Multimodal 2012 show in Birmingham on May 2. The close-coupled three-platform vehicle can carry a single 40 ft container on each of the outer platforms ...
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NewsGCS expands intermodal wagon fleet
RUSSIA: Global Container Service Group has begun taking delivery of 224 flat wagons ordered from Transmashholding's Engels plant. The wagons are to be used on block trains operated by GCS intermodal subsidiary Ruscon, which moves almost 150 000 TEU a year on routes from the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk ...