Freight news – Page 164
-
NewsQR National valued at A$6·7bn after part-privatisation
AUSTRALIA: Trading in QR National shares began on November 22, following the Queensland state government's flotation of the country's largest rail freight operator. The state said it was the second-biggest IPO in Australian history, with a market capitalisation of A$6·22bn and an enterprise value of A$6·70bn. The state raised gross ...
-
NewsBDZ becomes holding company
BULGARIA: Plans to restructure state rail operator BDZ on a holding company model were signed-off by Minister of Transport, Communications & Information Technology Alexander Tsvetko on October 22. National Railway Infrastructure Company is already responsible for infrastructure. The latest plans will see BDZ EAD established as a holding company with ...
-
NewsUGL announces locomotive and wagon orders
AUSTRALIA: Rolling stock manufacturer UGL Ltd announced a series of locomotive and wagon orders totalling A$250m on November 1. QR National has placed an A$35m order with UGL for six standard gauge C44ACi locomotives to support its growing iron ore haulage activities in Western Australia, along with 227 wagons. Deliveries ...
-
NewsUlaanbaatar Railway orders Transmash locomotives
MONGOLIA: Ulaanbaatar Railway signed a contract with Transmash Holding for the supply of 35 2TE116UM twin-section diesel freight locomotives and 13 TEM18DM shunters on October 28. An initial four main line and five shunting locomotives are to due be delivered to UBTZ this year, and the remainder by July ...
-
NewsMining drives African rail plans
MOZAMBIQUE: Brazilian mining group CVRD has purchased a 51% stake in Sociedade de Desenvolvimento do Corredor do Norte, which has a 51% stake in Corredor de Desenvolvimento do Norte and Central East African Railways. CDN holds the operating concession for the 872 km line from the Indian ...
-
NewsKazakhstan signs contract for 295 Alstom-TMH locomotives
KAZAKHSTAN: The Chairman of state railway Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, Askar Mamin, signed a €1·3bn firm order for 295 electric locotives with Alstom and Transmash Holding when President Nursultan Nazarbayev visited French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris on October 27. The order covers 200 KZ8A twin-unit freight locomotives and 95 KZ4A ...
-
NewsCorridor X funds awarded
EUROPE: The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development is providing two loans to support the development of Pan -European Corridor X through the Balkans. On October 15 EBRD signed its first rail sector loan in Macedonia, allocating €17·6m for upgrading of 53 km of track on three sections of Corridor ...
-
NewsGATX to manage wagon fleet
USA: Asset leasing company GATX Corp has purchased a 12·5% stake in Adler Funding LLC, a newly-created entity which has acquired a fleet of 5 350 wagons. GATX will manage the portfolio on behalf of the financial institutions which own the remainder of the firm. 'This opportunity demonstrates GATX's ...
-
NewsHigh temperature locomotives ordered from EMD
MAURITANIA: Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière has awarded Electro-Motive Diesel a contract to supply six SD70ACS heavy haul diesel locomotives with AC traction motors, the manufacturer announced on October 20. To be delivered from late 2011 they will allow the operation of heavier mineral trains through the harsh desert ...
-
NewsMicrowaving a wagon
RUSSIA: Freight One has installed a microwave device to heat viscous oil residues in tank wagons at the Kombinatskaya Washing & Steaming Station on the Western Siberian Railway. It has passed the necessary tests and is expected to reduce energy consumption when preparing petroleum product tank wagons for filling. The ...
-
NewsPotash prospects
CANADA: National Steel Car is building 1000 wagons at its plant in Hamilton, Ontario, for Potash Corp, which is undertaking a C$7bn expansion plan with the aim of doubling its output from 2005 levels by 2015. The plan includes new mines and loading facilities in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick which ...
-
NewsTriple-deck automotive wagon on test
USA: Union Pacific's recently unveiled AutoFlex multi-level wagon has an internal rack structure that can be adjusted to carry road vehicles on two or three levels depending on size and customer requirements. An improved design of end door provides convenient access and enhanced loading safety, and the tie-down chocks have ...
-
NewsRailAmerica signs Ottawa Valley Railway lease
CANADA: The RaiLink Canada subsidiary of short line group RailAmerica Inc has signed an agreement to operate a section of Canadian Pacific 's Ottawa Valley Railway, which carries pulp, paper and related products. RaiLink Canada announced the termination of its lease of the OVRR in December 2009, but continued to ...
-
NewsGE announces Brazil’s largest locomotive order
BRAZIL: President & CEO of GE Transportation Lorenzo Simonelli announced the signing of the ’largest locomotive purchase agreement in the history of Brazil’ at InnoTrans on September 23. The agreement worth ’in excess of 600m reais’ had been signed with MRS Logística the previous day. It covers an initial 115 ...
-
NewsFreight Two investment plan announced
RUSSIA: Plans to spend €3·5bn on wagon fleet modernisation were announced by Russian Railways following the RZD board's formal go-ahead for the creation of the Second Freight Co on August 26. Non-profit body Zheldorreform owns one share in the new company, known as Freight Two, with RZD owning the rest. ...
-
NewsCross-border upgrade
EUROPE: The heads of the German and Polish national railways met in Warszawa on September 8 to discuss improvements to cross-border co-operation, including plans for high speed services from Berlin to Poznan. The meeting was hosted by DB Chief Executive Rüdiger Grube and his PKP counterpart Andrzej Wach. Agreement was ...
-
NewsChinese firm to supply locomotives to Australia
AUSTRALIA: Chinese manufacturer CSR Ziyang has won its first order to supply locomotives to Australia, signing a contract worth more than 100m yuan with SCT Logistics on September 1. CSR Ziyang has exported almost 300 diesel locomotives to 18 countries, but these will be the first to be supplied abroad ...
-
NewsMiners drop Queensland rail bid
AUSTRALIA: The Queensland Coal Industry Rail Group consortium of 13 mining firms has dropped its A$4·85bn cash bid to buy QR National’s Central Queensland rail network, which is to be sold under the state government’s asset disposal programme. Consortium member BHP Billiton said it was 'disappointed that QCIRG has not ...
-
NewsNorfolk Southern opens Heartland Corridor
USA: The Heartland Corridor gauge enhancement project to provide faster transit times between Virginia's ports and Chicago was officially completed when Norfolk Southern operated the first double-stack intermodal service on the route on September 9. The former Norfolk & Western main line across Virginia, southern West Virginia and Ohio had ...
-
NewsDB Schenker Rail to spend €410m on fleet
EUROPE: Freight operator DB Schenker Rail expects to spend €410m on fleet modernisation throughout Europe this year, DB Mobility Logistics board memb er Dr Karl-Friedrich Rausch said on September 2. 'This is a record amount which we plan to invest at exactly those points where there is increasing ...