The first two of four CZ Loko Effishunter 1000 locomotives ordered by Slovenia’s SŽ-Tovorni Promet in January 2019 were delivered on June 3. They are quieter and 24% more powerful than the operator’s existing shunting locos, and meet Euro Stage IIIB emission standards. A single Effishunter 1000 locomotive has also been ordered by the Port of Koper.
Indian Railways has developed a 110 km/h stainless steel-lined milk tank wagon with a capacity of 44 660 litres, 12% more than the previous standard design.
Colas Rail has won its first contract in Croatia, a €5·5m deal to work with GP Krk to renew 2·4 km of track connecting the port and freight yard at Bakar. ‘Thanks to this contract in a new country, Colas Rail is increasing its presence and its network in southern Europe’, said Colas Rail CEO Hervé Le Joliff.
On June 4 Russian Railways, SNCF Forwardis and COSCO Group launched a service connecting Nanchang in eastern China’s Jiangxi province with Paris. The 41 40 ft containers of medical supplies including 40 million masks were expected to take 20 days to cover 11 920 km and seven countries, with breaks of gauge at Dostyk and Brest.
Association of American Railroads President & CEO Ian Jefferies said railways were ‘extremely disappointed’ in the by US House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure surface transportation reauthorisation bill released on June 3. ‘Smart policies have helped railroads continue to deliver for their customers during this pandemic’, he said. ‘Now is not the time to retreat from these much less impose wish list policy riders or unnecessary operational requirements, such as mandating crew size, barring the streamlining of operations and constraining the already limited capacity of the rail network.’ The American Short Line & Regional Rail Association said ‘with the FAST Act expiring at the end of September, we applaud Chairman DeFazio’s release of a five year surface transportation reauthorisation bill. We look forward to working with both the House and the Senate as the process moves forward and hopefully culminates in the enactment of a long-term, bipartisan bill.’
On May 26 Russian Railways’ Kaliningrad Railway took delivery of the first of five TMH Bryansk 4·4 MW 2TE25KM freight locomotives ordered to replace aging 2M62 locos. Last year RZD took delivery of a total of 92 2TE25KM locos.
Canadian Pacific set a new record for shipping domestic grain and grain products in May, moving 2·80 million tonnes. This beats the May 2014 record by more than 300 000 tonnes. As of May 31, CP’s grain movements for the 2019-20 crop year totalled 24·17 million tonnes.
