Loaded containers were been transported to Lahore by train during December as part of the testing of rail facilities at Hutchison Ports Pakistan’s Karachi terminal.
Sinara Transport Machines’ Lyudinovo plant is to supply one eight-axle TEM14M diesel shunting locomotive to Daltransugol at the port of Khabarovsk (Vanino) and another to IPP at Novorossiysk. ‘In 2022, TEM14M locos will be operated in all of the largest cargo ports in Russia — in the Baltic, Far East and Black Sea basins’, said General Director Anton Zubikhin.
The European Commission has decided that a €88m German equity injection to compensate Deutsche Bahn for losses suffered by DB Cargo as a result of restrictions imposed to reduce the spread of the coronavirus between March 16 and May 17 2020 is in line with state aid rules. The commission said the coronavirus outbreak is an extraordinary, unforeseeable event having a significant economic impact, as so exceptional interventions are justified.
Railway Constructions Pakistan Ltd has signed an MoU with Al Furqan Holdings and BIL Pakistan to construct a new 105 km railway connecting Thar Coal Block II with New Chorr station on the Hyderabad – Mirpurkhas line. The project is costed at €170m.
On December 22 Russia’s Federal Passenger Co and Russian Post signed an agreement for the continued transport of parcels between Vladivostok and Moscow on dedicated daily trains in 2022-24.
Canpotex has awarded Canadian Pacific a seven-year contract for the transport of potash for export, following on from a 10-year agreement which expires this year. ‘This new agreement will extend our long-standing relationship with CP, and will provide the safe and efficient rail service we depend on to reliably reach our customers in overseas markets’, said Canpotex President & CEO Gord McKenzie.
The first meeting of the Permanent Working Group for the Kazakhstan – Turkmenistan – Iran Railway Corridor was held virtually on December 27. The PWG was formed following the signing of an MoU at the 15th Economic Cooperation Organization summit during November, and will develop a roadmap to promote and commercialise the KTI corridor and develop economic hubs near the border crossings.
The last from the second batch of five EffiShunters 1000 four-axle diesel locos built by CZ Loko for ČD Cargo entered service on December 21, replacing older Class 742/750 diesels on shunting and light main line freight services around Jihlava, Havlíčkův Brod, Znojmo, Břeclav and Brno. The locos were ordered in December 2020 as an option under the original contract for five delivered in 2019–20.
A total of 630 Russian Railways 3ES5K Yermak electric locomotives had been equipped with a virtual coupling system by the end of the 2021. This enables the synchronised operation of two trains with a separation of 2 to 3 km controlled by radio from one loco, compared to 4 to 5 km separation with conventional operation.
Canadian Pacific has renewed its multi-year agreement with retail group Canadian Tire Corp, and will begin directly serving the Ashcroft Terminal in Ashcroft, BC, reducing the need to shift goods to lorries. ‘As the single largest container importer in Canada, CTC will benefit from CP’s leading service, reliability and network capacity across Canada’, said CP President & CEO Keith Creel.
Gottfried Eymer joined the board of Rail Cargo Group on January 1, with responsibility for market and sales and a focus on international expansion towards Russia and Asia. He succeeds Thomas Kargl, who is moving on after more than four years on the board. Eymer has more than 20 years of international management experience, most recently as Managing Director of DB’s French subsidiary Euro Cargo Rail.
