A Class 319 EMU which has been converted into a Class 769 electro-diesel and equipped to carry roll cages and pallets was demonstrated by distribution firm Orion at London Euston station on July 7. Services between the English midlands and Scotland are expected to start later this year, with other routes following in 2022 depending on customer need and the availability of train paths.
EuroChem has awarded United Wagon Co a contract to supply 2 000 Type 19-9835-01 mineral fertiliser hopper wagons by June 2022. The wagons will form part of the fleet of National Transportation Co, which provides logistics services to EuroChem MCC. They will have a capacity of 76·7 tonnes or 101 m3, with UWC estimating that their high capacity would reduce annual electricity consumption by more than 1·5 MWh and greenhouse gas emissions by almost 800 tonnes compared to 2019-20.
Captrain España has joined the Portuguese Association of Railway Companies, which was established by Medway and Takargo in May. ‘Captrain sees as strategic the creation of an entity such as APEF, whose work is essential for the development of rail freight at Iberian level’, said Captrain España Chairman Miguel Llevat. ‘For this reason, we immediately expressed our interest in being part of this project’.
The International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations and the International Union of Railways have signed a memorandum of understanding for collaboration on safety and security, digitalisation, sustainability and Eurasian corridor development.
Freightliner and Maersk Line have launched a daily intermodal rail service from the Port of Felixstowe to Newell & Wright’s site at the recently revived Tinsley yard near Sheffield. ‘We are delighted to see the re-opening of the site at Tinsley, providing a further opportunity to move more goods by rail and the associated environmental benefits that brings’, said Tim Shakerley, Managing Director of UK Rail at Freightliner. ‘The daily service can remove up to 76 lorries from the UK’s congested roads and further supports our commitment to tackling climate change and meeting government decarbonisation targets.’
InRail has operated its first freight serves between Croatia and France, which arrived at Creutzwald on July 1. The train carrying propylene was operated in partnership with Train Hungary in Croatia, Captrain France and ECR. It was InRail’s longest-ever service, covering 2 000 km via Slovenia and Italy in 60 h.
PKP Cargo has taken delivery of the first 44 of 220 Sgrrs container wagons to be supplied by Greenbrier‘s Wagony Świdnica and Astra Rail by the end of next year.
RB Group has awarded United Wagon Co a contract to supply of 4 000 Type 13-6903 high capacity container flat cars, following on from an order for 3 600 which was placed in April.
TransContainer has launched a regular service carrying Chinese-made cars in containers from China to Russia two or three times a month. On July 4 the first train with 50 containers arrived at Krasnoyarsk from Dalian after an 11-day journey including transhipment at Zabaikalsk-Manzhouli. ‘In the long run we expect to increase the cargo flow and expand the geography to other regions of Russia and Europe’, said Vladimir Khlutkov, Asia-Pacific Business Development Director of TransContainer.
