Patriot Rail announced on January 4 that it had finalised the acquisition of short line operator Salt Lake, Garfield & Western Railway and its related entities Caballero and Caballero 2 which provide storage and transload services. SLGW is the first bolt-on acquisition by Patriot since it was acquired by First Sentier Investors in October 2019.
With effect from January 4, DB Cargo has begun operating its own trains to and from the Audi plant in Brussels, which had previously been handled by Lineas west of Aachen. At present there are eight trains each way per week to and from Osnabrück, Seelze and Heilbronn, conveying automotive components and finished vehicles.
United Wagon Co is to supply 360 Type 13-6903 container flat wagons to Trans Synergy in a deal financed by Russia’s State Transport Leasing Co.
Grzegorz Fingas has been appointed Business Development Director of EP Cargo Polska.
In December 2020, Le Shuttle freight traffic through the Channel Tunnel was above pre-coronavirus pandemic levels with 131 746 lorries carried, up 8% on December 2019. Eurotunnel said it benefitted from the stockpiling ahead of the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31, despite testing measures being imposed by France on December 20 for everyone travelling from the UK. Le Shuttle Freight transported a record weekly traffic level in the second week of December, with more than 40 000 lorries travelling.
United Wagon Co is to supply Lesresurs with 70 Type 13-6852-02 flat cars for timber traffic in Q2 2021. The wagons will have 25 tonne axleload Type 18-9855 bogies and capacity of 74 tonnes or 122 m3. ‘These wagons get uncoupled for non-scheduled repairs many times less frequently than standard flat cars, while their operation provides much more economic benefits’, said the timber company.
Aves One has equipped 95% of its wagon fleet with quieter brakes, including all vehicles running on the German network where this will be a legal requirement from the end of 2024. ‘By converting our portfolio to whisper brakes, we are contributing our share to reducing noise emissions and thus improving the quality of life of the people affected. In doing so, we are leading the most environmentally friendly mode of transport, rail, into the future, both ecologically and socially’, said director Tobias Aulich.