Freight news – Page 96
-
NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
The European Commission has found that a loan of €166m granted by Slovakia to ZSSK Cargo does not involve state aid within the meaning of EU rules. The Commission concluded that the state had behaved as a market investor would have in similar circumstances, and thus provided no selective economic ...
-
NewsVancouver rail upgrade funding
CANADA: The Government of Canada is to provide C$167m to support three projects to improve the capacity of railways serving the Port of Vancouver. Two projects are led by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority with investment from CN and CP. They include improving the ventilation of the Thornton Tunnel to ...
-
NewsFerrocarril de Antofagasta renews locomotive fleet
CHILE: Ferrocarril de Antofagasta has taken delivery of seven Progress Rail GT42 locomotives and awarded GE Transportation a contract to supply five C23EMP locos, as part of a fleet renewal programme which will see a total of 14 new locos delivered by the end of 2019. FCAB ordered the GT42 ...
-
NewsUkrainian Railways locomotives under construction in the USA
UKRAINE: GE Transportation has rolled out the first of 30 TE33A Evolution Series locomotives which it is building for Ukrainian Railways at its plant at Erie in the USA. The final 10% of assembly work as well as painting of the locomotives is to be undertaken in Ukraine under a ...
-
NewsSNCF Logistics buys Spanish freight operator
SPAIN: An agreement for SNCF Logistics to acquire Comsa’s stake in private operator Comsa Rail Transport was signed on July 9. The transaction is subject to Spanish regulatory approval. Founded five years ago, Comsa Rail Transport now has a turnover of €32m, nearly 200 employees and operated 19 200 trains ...
-
NewsDB Netz introduces ‘green’ driver advisory functions
GERMANY: This month, infrastructure manager DB Netz has introduced ‘green wave’ train running functionality to support the use of connected driver advisory systems. Train operators seeking to improve their energy efficiency have been encouraged to sign up to the service at 0·315 euro cents per path-km. Available on all routes ...
-
NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Romania’s national Environment Fund Administration has approved funding to support CFR Marfă with the operation of rolling motorway services. The freight operator owns 160 Greenbrier Type Saadkms wagons which operated between Wels in Austria and Glogovat in Romania in 2002-06. In February 2018 a trial train with 10 lorry ...
-
NewsFreightliner to deploy RailSmart software suite
EUROPE: Freightliner has signed a five-year deal to use 3Squared’s RailSmart software suite, including exclusive collaboration for future developments. The Genesee & Wyoming subsidiary will initially roll out RailSmart in the UK, starting this year with the RailSmart EDS competency management module and RailSmart ORS rostering system. Subsequent modules ...
-
NewsDriverless heavy haul train completes first iron ore delivery
AUSTRALIA: Rio Tinto completed its first iron ore delivery using a driverless train on July 10. The Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator had granted approval on May 16, and full commercial operation is planned for late 2018. The fully-loaded autonomous train with three locomotives carried 28 000 ...
-
NewsFruit, meat and sweets could take the Trans-Caspian route to China
INTERNATIONAL: Polish broad gauge operator PKP LHS and Far East Land Bridge have organised a trial container shipment from the Euroterminal Sławków to Urumqi using the Trans-Caspian route via Ukraine, the Black Sea, Georgia, Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea and Kazkhstan. This route ‘fits into the needs of freight forwarders and ...
-
NewsOmniTRAX buys two CSX lines
USA: Short line group OmniTRAX has acquired the Alabama & Tennessee River Railway and the Fulton County Railway from CSX. Operations on the two lines have been managed by OmniTRAX for several years, and are expected to continue unchanged. Terms of the acquisitions were not disclosed. The 190 km ATN ...
-
NewsRath Group becomes fortieth Vectron customer
EUROPE: Rath Group has awarded Siemens a contract to supply three Vectron multisystem locomotives for use by its RTB Cargo subsidiary. The locomotives are scheduled to be delivered from Siemens’ München-Allach factory from December. The 6·4 MW locomotives will be equipped to use 15 kV 16·7 Hz, 25 ...
-
NewsWagon weighing system for rapid installation
USA: Schenck Process has obtained US legal-for-trade status for its MultiTrain LegalWeight in-motion wagon weighing system. This uses instrumented concrete sleepers with high-precision load cells to measure the vertical force applied through the rail with an accuracy of 0·2%. It requires 50 m of straight and level track, works in ...
-
NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Australia’s GrainCorp has awarded Watco a contract to provide haulage services on the 1 067 mm gauge network in Queensland, where two harvests per year produce 2·8 millions of tonnes of grain. Watco has ordered eight locomotives from US supplier National Rail Equipment, as well as wagons from China, and ...
-
NewsEffiShunter 600 locomotive announced
CZECH REPUBLIC: CZ Loko has launched the EffiShunter 600 four-axle shunting locomotive, which replaces the EffiShunter 500 and 700 designs in its portfolio. The EffiShunter 600 is fitted with a 563 kW Caterpillar C18 engine, which replaces the 522 kW C18 and 709 kW C27 prime movers and ...
-
NewsTraxx MS3 locomotive unveiled
GERMANY: The first Traxx MS3 locomotive was officially unveiled at Bombardier Transportation’s Kassel plant on July 4, watched by more than 100 representatives of train operators and stakeholders. The Traxx 3 family is offered in AC, DC and multi-system variants. Bombardier said the Traxx MS3 equipped for 15 kV 16·7 ...
-
NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
A part of government proposals to provide a more level playing field for rail freight, Dutch infrastructure manager ProRail and DB Cargo are to test the operation of 740 m trains on the Brabant line between Sloe and Dillingen in August. Increasing train length from the current maximum of ...
-
NewsEVR Cargo becomes Operail
ESTONIA: State-owned freight operator EVR Cargo has been renamed Operail, in a change which the company said was ‘driven by the need to better reflect the nature of an international market-oriented logistics and transport company’. ‘Freight transport was an essential part of EVR Cargo’s identity, but has not been our ...
-
NewsRCG venture runs Greek freight trains
GREECE: Open access freight venture Rail Cargo Logistics Goldair began operating its own trains on the national rail network on June 27, when it dispatched an initial trip from the RCG terminal at Sindos near Thessaloniki to Idomeni on the border with Macedonia. The joint venture between Austria’s Rail Cargo ...
-
NewsProgress Rail to rebuild 30 CP locos
CANADA: Canadian Pacific has awarded Progress Rail a contract to modernise 30 SD90MAC locomotives to the SD70ACU specification. Major components will be remanufactured to improve performance and reliability, including the existing EMD 710 engines, and the locos will be fitted with new traction control systems and cabs meeting the latest ...