Following delays owing to the coronavirus pandemic, Uruguayan freight operator SELF has begun main line testing between Peñarol and Sudriers of a refurbished GE ‘shovelnose’ locomotive dating from 1954 and out of use since 2012. A further three similar locos are to be returned to service, and will be used to haul cement between the ANCAP Verdun plant and Manga.
Aves One announced on June 11 that it had agreed deals worth €110m for the acquisition of tank, intermodal and freight wagons, with around half to be delivered in the current financial year and the rest by 2023. In addition, 126 tank and intermodal wagons worth €11.5m were acquired in Q1 2021, taking the portfolio to more than 11 100 units as of March 31. ’Our pipeline underscores our growth trajectory in an attractive market environment. We are currently experiencing high demand for our rail assets’, said management board member Tobias Aulich.
PTC Cargo has signed an agreement to provide UTLC-ERA with container train consolidation and document processing services at its new transhipment terminal at Dostyk on Kazakhstan’s border with China.
Steelmaker SSAB has awarded VR Transpoint a contract for the rail transport of raw materials and products to and from the SSAB Raahe hot-rolled strip and plate plant in Finland. The partners aim to halve emissions from the transport of steel coils and iron ore pellets by 2024 by switching from road to rail and updating rolling stock.
CTL Logistics’ Training & Examination Centre has been awarded exclusive rights to train drivers to operate Alstom Traxx DC3 locomotives which Akiem leases to customers in Poland.
GTLK has awarded United Wagon Co a 864m rouble contract to supply 200 Type 19-9549 grain hopper wagons by the end of the year.
Camco Technologies has joined the International Union for Road-Rail Combined Transport. ‘We are happy to welcome Camco Technologies amongst our technology partners’, said UIRR President Ralf-Charley Schultze. ‘Their track record and know-how of intermodal terminal automation will be of great value in our terminal technology platform and help our member operators as well as terminals in obtaining new insights and access innovative technologies.’
ÖBB Rail Cargo Group and Kombiverkehr have increased their Budapest – Neuss service to six return trips per week. Three of the trains also serve the Wels and Wien Süd terminals in both directions. Neuss offers road and water links, and connections to and from Rotterdam, while Budapest has a daily service to Turkey and three trains a week to China.
Russian Railways reports that between January and May transit container traffic between China and Europe was up 70% on the same period last year at 188 400 TEU. Throughput from Europe to China was up 110% to 103 700 TEU.
