Freight news – Page 99
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News
Freight trains return to Bogotá
COLOMBIA: Commercial freight trains resumed operation on two sections of the country’s Red Férrea de Atlantico on May 8, following an extensive state-funded rehabilitation programme. According to the head of the national infrastructure agency Dimitri Zaninovich, the government has invested US$420m to revitalise 876 route-km linking Bogota, Belencito, La Dorada ...
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Norfolk Southern to work with Silicon Valley startup accelerator
USA: Norfolk Southern has joined Silicon Valley technology startup accelerator Plug & Play’s Supply Chain & Logistics Innovation Platform, seeking to engage with companies developing artificial intelligence, machine learning, the industrial internet of things and advanced analytics for supply chains. Plug & Play will identify and connect Norfolk Southern with ...
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Funding package to boost TasRail infrastructure
AUSTRALIA: The federal government has allocated A$59·8m for the Tasmanian Freight Rail Revitalisation ProgrammeAs part of its latest budget, matching a similar commitment from the state. The A$119·6m Tranche Two of TasRail’s Infrastructure Investment Fund is intended to support infrastructure rehabilitation and enhancement works over a four-year period from June ...
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World rail freight news round-up
Steiermarkbahn has expanded its fleet and reduced its reliance on leasing companies with the purchase of a batch of Tatravagónka four-axle Sggnss container wagons. On May 11 an inaugural freight service left Bayan Nur in China's Inner Mongolia for Tehran in Iran. The 8 352 km journey via Kazakhstan and ...
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Andrex Logistics opens transhipment facility
POLAND: Andrex Logistics has opened its Chryzanów transhipment facility in Poland, close to the Siemianówka – Svisloch border crossing with Belarus. Branded as the East West Intermodal Hub, the 60 000 m2 site has 14 km of 1 435 mm and 1 520 mm gauge track and a 41 ...
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Herzog to provide short line PTC
USA: Herzog Technologies is to make its Positive Train Control support and hosting services available to smaller freight railroads under an agreement with the American Short Line & Regional Railroad Association announced on May 10. ‘The implementation of PTC is one of the most complex and challenging projects to be ...
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Bologna – Firenze route modernisation to start this year
ITALY: Work will begin in October to modernise the 80 km direttissima between Bologna and Prato, north of Firenze. The fast line between the two cities was inaugurated in 1934 and forms part of pan-European Corridor V. Since December 2009, express passenger services between Bologna and Firenze have mostly been ...
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MRCE orders 25 more Vectrons
EUROPE: Leasing company Mitsui Rail Capital Europe announced an order for further 25 Siemens Vectron locomotives on May 8. The order includes 10 multisystem 6·4 MW locomotives suitable for operation ‘across Europe from the Netherlands to southeast Europe’ which will be delivered at the end of 2018, as well as ...
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World rail freight news round-up
Genesee & Wyoming company Freightliner unveiled its new brand identity on May 1. It will now commence rebranding its intermodal and bulk rail freight terminals and Freightliner Road Services lorries, while 'taking a phased approach' with locomotives and wagons. The European Rail Freight Association’s annual meeting on April 18 called ...
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Kansas City Southern to deploy CloudMoyo software
USA: CloudMoyo is to deploy its Microsoft Azure cloud-based CloudMoyo Rail Transportation Management software to modernise Kansas City Southern’s Management Control System and provide analytics and artificial intelligence to improve operational efficiency. KCS already uses CloudMoyo’s crew management, business intelligence and analytics packages, and is to deploy CRTM in ...
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Union Pacific orders low-emission shunters
USA: Union Pacific has ordered 10 EMD24B low-emission locomotives from Progress Rail for yard shunting work in California. Announced on May 1, the order is the first for the EMD24B design, following the testing of a demonstrator by Pacific Harbor Line at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. ...
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PKP PLK reinstates line for freight services
POLAND: Infrastructure manager PKP PLK has rehabilitated the 11 km Jełowa – Murów section of the Opole – Namysłów route to support an expansion of Stora Enso Wood Products’ plant at Murów. Passenger services were withdrawn form the route in 1992, and the line was taken out of use following ...
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Hupac expands port hinterland network with ERS acquisition
EUROPE: Intermodal freight operator Hupac announced an agreement on May 2 to purchase ERS Railways from Genesee & Wyoming Inc. This includes ERS’s 47% stake in Hamburg-based operator boxXpress. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of this year, subject to regulatory approval. ERS would remain a ...
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World rail freight news round-up
A study commissioned from consultancy HTC by rail freight associations ERFA and NEE and combined transport association UIRR has estimated that the economic impact caused by the tunnel collapse at Rastatt in Germany last August was €2·04bn. The tunnel collapse blocked the strategically important Rhein Valley main line for several ...
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UK railway news round-up
FirstGroup and joint venture partner Trenitalia have decided to withdraw from the East Midlands franchise competition, in order to focus on bidding for the West Coast Partnership franchise. ‘This is an exciting opportunity to be the first operator of High Speed 2, as well as to run conventional West Coast ...
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China and Gulf states discuss OTIF accession to support international freight
INTERNATIONAL: China and the Gulf Co-Operation Council member states are discussing accession to the COTIF convention, which provides a legal framework for the operation of international rail traffic. China’s interest is related to the growth of east-west freight traffic to and from Europe. Its accession would be politically significant ...
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Locomotives arrive in Abidjan
CÔTE D'IVOIRE: Four 2 250 hp Type GT22 diesel locomotives which Sitarail had ordered from US supplier NRE were delivered to the Port of Abidjan on April 9. Annocuing the arrival of the locomotives, the Bolloré Transport & Logistics subsidiary said it was continuing to develop the metre-gauge network in ...
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World rail freight news round-up
Swedish operator Green Cargo announced on April 19 that it had ordered a further six Transmontana electric locomotives from Romanian manufacturer Softronic for delivery in autumn 2019. This follows from a July 2017 order for two of the six-axle locos, which are scheduled for delivery in autumn this year. Slovakia’s ...
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First Amber Train links the Baltic States
EUROPE: The first Amber Train branded intermodal freight service left the Šeštokai transhipment facility in Lithuania for Riga in Latvia and the Paldiski terminal in Estonia on April 19, carrying 43 containers which had originated in France. Operations in the Baltic States were managed by Lithuanian Railways, Latvia's LDz Cargo ...
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Freight restructuring as SNCF reforms push ahead
FRANCE: Visiting the port of Bonneuil-sur-Marne on April 16, Prime Minister Eduard Phillippe, Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot and Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne announced a series of measures to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of SNCF’s rail freight business. The package includes increased support for intermodal transport and a ‘remission’ of ...