Freight news – Page 178
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Freightliner PowerHaul loco design on show
INNOTRANS: Freightliner and GE Transportation have unveiled a model of the new PH37ACmi PowerHaul diesel locomotives being developed for the UK market. PowerHaul is based on the Evolution Series locomotive platform which GE Transportation introduced in 2005. Freightliner ordered 30 locomotives in November 2007, and the first are due ...
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DB announces €250m Voith loco order
INNOTRANS: Deutsche Bahn has placed a contract with Voith Turbo Lokomotivtechnik for 130 Gravita 10 BB diesel-hydraulic shunting locomotives worth around €250m. To be designated Class 260, the locomotives will replace Class 291 and 295 locos when they enter service with DB Schenker Rail in 2010-12. The ...
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Heavy freight roll-out
RUSSIA: Transmash Holding's Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Works has rolled out the first series-built Class 2ES4K Donchak 3 kV DC electric heavy freight locomotive for Russian Railways. The order for 30 Class 2ES4K locos in March 2008 followed trials with a prototype rolled out in 2006. They are the first ...
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Voith Turbo adds Gravitas
INNOTRANS: Following the high-profile debut of its Maxima 40CC freight locomotive at InnoTrans 2006, Voith Turbo Lokomotivtechnik of Kiel will be showing the smaller members of its growing diesel-hydraulic family. The Voith locomotive display will feature a 2750 kW Maxima 30CC, which shares many components with the more powerful ...
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Railpool places €192m order for 58 Traxx locos
EUROPE: The Railpool joint venture of HSH Nordbank and KfW-IPEX Bank has placed its first order for locomotives. On September 22 Bombardier announced that it had signed two contracts to supply the leasing firm with a total of 58 Traxx locomotives worth €192m. Deliveries will begin in August 2009, ...
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DB Schenker buys 49% stake in NordCargo
ITALY: On September 17 DB Schenker subsidiary Railion Italia announced that its offer for a 49% stake in Milano-based rail freight company NordCargo had been accepted. Spun off from parent company Ferrovienord in 2003, NordCargo operates between Germany, Switzerland and Italy, with 182 employees and revenue of €34m in 2007. ...
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RDC sells Central East African Railway stake
AFRICA: Railroad Development Corp has completed the sale of its stake in Nacala Corridor concessionaire Central East African Railway to Mozambican investment group Insitec, the Pittsburgh-based rail management and investment company announced on September 15. 'The sale of our economic interests to local investors represents a major development in ...
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Grant funds freight brake research
AUSTRALIA: Queensland's Smart State Research Partnerships programme has approved a A$670 000 grant towards the development of a Train Health Advisory System at CQ University's Centre for Railway Engineering. The university had previously been awarded A$869 500 to develop OzECP electronically controlled pneumatic braking in partnerships with QR and ...
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Malt trains mark Rail4chem integration
EUROPE: Veolia Cargo has announced the launch of its first new freight service using resources from the Rail4chem business which it acquired earlier this year. On August 4 Veolia began transporting loose malt to Antwerpen from Malteurop's main production site at Vitry-le-François in France. Within France the trains are ...
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Mega-trucks are not the answer
FREIGHT: The European Commission is considering a report recommending the EU-wide acceptance of longer and heavier lorries, but environmentally and economically this would be a monumental step in the wrong direction, argues Michael Clausecker.
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EC approves rolling motorway aid
EUROPE: On September 10 the European Commission approved an extension to state support being provided during the experimental phase of Modalohr rolling motorway services on the Lyon - Torino route. Trial services on the 175 km Fréjus corridor between Aiton-Bourganeuf in France and Orbassano in Italy are being operated ...
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Punta Colonet tenders called
MEXICO: President Felipe Calderon announced the start of tendering for a 45-year build and operate concession covering the planned US$5bn Punta Colonet port and railway project on August 28. The centrepiece will be a container port for trans-Pacific cargo which is to be built on the lightly ...
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SBB seeks freight partner
SWITZERLAND: Potential partners have until September 22 to submit expressions of interest in forming a partnership with SBB Cargo to develop Swiss Federal Railways' freight business. SBB said on September 3 that it is aiming to improve rail's competitive position against road in the international market, provide better ...
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High speed rail in Qatar plan
QATAR: Deutsche Bahn has revealed details of its agreement to assist with the conceptual development of a rail network in the emirate. A memorandum of understanding was signed by DB and state investment company Qatari Diar at the end of August. DB will develop conceptual designs and provide consultancy ...
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Race to the coal
AFRICA: Word reaches us that Pittsburgh-based Railroad Development Corp has reached agreement to sell its stake in Central East African Railway, which operates the 1 067 mm gauge railway linking Malawi with the port of Nacala in northern Mozambique. CEAR took over the Malawi rail network in 1999, but did ...
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First wagons completed at Tikhvin
RUSSIA: The first two wagons have been completed at Tikhvin Railway Car Building Plant, which has been established on part of a former Transmash site in Leningrad oblast, 200 km east of St Petersburg. The 220 000 m² factory is being developed by ICT Group at a cost of ...
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UP genset shunters begin work
USA: Union Pacific has begun testing four RP20SD 2000 hp genset loconmotives built by Railpower for the Roseville hump yard 30 km northeast of Sacramento. The locos use the frames and bogies of scrapped six-axle EMD road switchers, and have three gensets onboard with room for a fourth to ...
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Port projects progress
AUSTRALIA: The Western Australia government confirmed on July 29 that it had selected the Oakajee Port & Rail joint venture of Murchison Metals and Mitsubishi for the concession to develop an A$3bn port and rail network serving eight iron ore reserves in the mid-West region east of Geraldton. The partnership ...
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Rail to serve Russian car terminal
RUSSIA: On August 10 RailTransAuto formally opened a 25 ha car importation terminal at Mikhnevo, 50 km from Moscow. Finland's VR hopes to increase shipment of cars to Russia by rail to 50?000 vehicles a year, and in the longer term aims to carry a third of the 740?000 cars ...
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Eurosprinter completes tunnel load trials
DENMARK: A Siemens ES64F4 multi-system locomotive has completed trials in the Storebælt tunnel to establish the maximum trailing load which can be hauled in Denmark. Four tests were performed, demonstrating that the locomotive was able to start a train of 36 wagons with a total weight of 2 011 ...