In early February the Inno4wood logistics joint venture of Innofreight and Czech company Wood & Paper began transporting timber for Stallinger Holzindustrie between the Czech region of Plzeň and a sawmill in Frankenmarkt, Austria, once a week. The services uses using 16 2×45 ft InnoWagons with Smart GigaWood 5×5 stanchions, enabling five stacks of 5 m wood to be loaded providing a payload of 120 m3 of round wood.
Brazilian operator VLI has invested R$400m in wagons specially designed to transport dissolving pulp as part of a recently-signed 30-year contract with LD Cellulose which covers the transport of 500 000 tonnes/year from Triângulo Mineiro region to the port of Barra do Riacho.
Former Kansas City Southern CEO David Starling has died. He retired as CEO in 2016, but had been acting as the KCS trustee of the voting trust set up in 2021 to hold KCS shares pending full US Surface Transportation Board approval for Canadian Pacific to take control of KCS. He was also a board member at The Greenbrier Companies. CP has proposed for approval the appointment of former US Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Ronald L Batory as the replacement trustee.
On February 14 US Representatives Darin LaHood and Brad Schneider formally announced the reintroduction of the Freight RAILCAR Act of 2023, a bipartisan bill which would offer tax credits to encourage the adoption of new, more efficient and environmentally friendly wagons.
Energy company RWE and VTG have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop a logistics concept for the delivery of ammonia by tank wagon from a planned import terminal in Brunsbüttel to industrial customers in Germany and neighbouring countries.
LKAB Malmtrafik has renewed Railcare’s contract to transport iron ore between Svappavaara-Kiruna and Svappavaara Gällivare in northern Sweden until December 31, with an option for a further year. The contract is worth SKr40m during 2023.
Run Rail is to use Blume Global’s container tracking and rail billing platform to manage its fleet of 53 ft containers.
Christoph Grasl has been appointed as ÖBB Rail Cargo board member for Market & Sales from April 3, succeeding Gottfried Eymer who left at the end of December. ‘Grasl knows the logistics industry and the rail-based industries within the markets of the Rail Cargo Group perfectly’, said ÖBB CEO Andreas Matthä. ‘His extensive network and international experience make him, as a sales expert, a splendid addition to the Rail Cargo management team.’
Spanish infrastructure manaer ADIF is to call tenders for a €15·1m contract to lower the track through the 422 m Roda de Berà tunnel on the Barcelona to València section of the Mediterranean Corridor. This would enable dual gauge third rail slab track to be installed, support a future switch from 3 kV DC to 25 kV 50 Hz electrifcation, and enable freight trains to run at 120 km/h.