The first EffiLiner 3000 electric locomotive produced by CZ Loko began trial operation on the SŽDC network at the end of August, following trials hauling coal trains on the Tušimice–Březno and Tušimice–Prunéřov industrial lines.Rebuilt from a former SNCB Class 12, locomotive 365.001 is to be displayed at the InnoTrans 2016 trade fair in Berlin.
Austrian company Rail&Sea has begun operating freight services in Croatia, using a Siemens Eurorunner diesel locomotive leased from Beacon Rail to haul a weekly calcite train from Gospić to Dobova. The train is divided into two portions at Oštarije before the steep and tightly curved Rudopolje – Gospić section.
A second China – Afghanistan freight service was launched on August 28, linking Yiwu in Zhejiang Province with Mazar-i-Sharif. The inaugural train is carrying 100 containers with goods worth more than US$4m. The 7 500 km journey via Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan is expected to take 15 days, and a weekly service is planned by the end of the year.
Freight One has won a 202m rouble contract to meet all Transneft-Logistics' rail transport requirements. 'For TNL as an integrated logistics operator, the main line of development is to create a company without transport assets of its own, following the modern trends in the logistics market', said Igor Derevitskiy, TNL's Deputy General Director for Logistics. 'The long-term contract with Freight One will allow us to hedge risks and improve the economic efficiency of transportation for Transneft enterprises.'
BMW has renewed DB Cargo’s contract to transport automotive parts from Leipzig and Regensburg to Shenyang. The new contract covers two trains a week carrying 2 500 containers per year. The journey time has been reduced from 23 to 17 days since the contract began in 2010.
Renfe Mercancías carried 9·0 million tonnes in the first half of the year, down 14·5% on the same period in 2015. Intermodal freight was down 8·3% and wagonload freight down 13·6%.
OmniTrax's Sand Springs Railway Co is to buy the Gerdau steel mill site in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, which is to be developed for mixed industrial, retail, office and logistics use. 'The mill site is a great location to attract tenants that require solid infrastructure, access to major transportation lanes and support from our top-rated development team', said OmniTrax CEO Kevin Shuba. 'It will also give us the opportunity to expand the local operation of OmniTRAX Logistics Services, our transloading, terminal and logistics solutions affiliate'.
Ural Locomotives has obtained certification for the operation of its 2ES6 DC electric freight locomotive across the five member states of the Eurasian Economic Union.
Odyssey Logistics & Technology Corp has begun construction of a metals transload facility in Joliet, Illinois, for opening in Q2 2017. President & CEO Bob Shellman said transferring the activities from Chicago would offer less congested road access and a direct link to BNSF rail yards.
