Etihad Rail has signed an agreement to transport 1·3 million tonnes of polyolefins annually from Borouge’s petrochemical complex in Al Ruways Industrial City via rail for export. The time required to transport Borouge’s products will be reduced from 12 h to 4 h. ‘This strategic partnership comes in line with Etihad Rail’s efforts to provide logistics solutions to some of the country’s largest companies, where they can transport goods through the rail network at reduced costs and time’, said Chairman of Etihad Railway Theyab bin Mohamed.
At the end of November Nurminen Logistics launched regular intermodal services from Finland to Kazakhstan via the Caspian Sea in co-operation with Kazakh national railway KTZ. Services will run three times a week from December. Vice-President of Sales Marjut Linnajärvi said there is a ‘great deal of customer interest and fast-growing demand’ for services to Kazakhstan, and Nurminen’s knowledge of the market and strong partnership with KTZ facilitates ‘services that provide a competitive edge for customers in Central Asia’.
RJ Corman Railroad Switching Co is providing shunting services at Sasol’s Lake Charles Chemical Complex in Westlake, Louisiana, under a five-year contact which began on December 1.
Freight One has begun transporting containers from Russia’s far east to Moscow, St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk using open wagons instead of flat wagons, to meet high demand and reduce empty trips.
ADIF has awarded a joint venture of Eptisa, Fulcrum, Sers and Carlos Fernández Casado a €1·8m contract to undertake gauging assessments to permit rolling motorway services to operate on a 200 km section of the Algeciras – Zaragoza route .
Pakistan Railways is planning to order up to 25 diesel-electric shunting locomotives for delivery within three years to replace life outdated and uneconomic locos. It currently has 51 shunting locos which serve 98 sites.
Edmond Harris succeeded Rob Reilly as Executive Vice-President & Chief Operating Officer at CN with effect from November 28.