Belgian infrastructure manager Infrabel has signed a €42·5m renewable three-year agreement enabling it to lease up to 20 locomotives from Lineas at short notice. Infrabel said maximising the work undertaken during blockades requires a lot of locomotives, and leasing would add to its own fleet of 81 locos to provide a buffer of capacity.
Work has been completed to provide 800 m of 1 520 mm gauge track at the Romanian River Danube port of Galați which will enable goods arriving by rail from Moldova and Ukraine to be directly transhipped onto water transport. The EU has covered 6·3m lei of the 9·1m LEI cost of the project, which was completed in four months as part in the Solidarity Lanes programme.
Spitzke has ordered 10 Vossloh Rolling Stock DE18 Stage V locomotives to haul maintenance and construction trains from summer 2025. They will be certified to use hydrotreated vegetable oils. ‘With the same performance and range as fossil diesel, high-quality HVO fuel made from 100% renewable raw materials burns significantly cleaner’, said CEO of Vossloh Rolling Stock Henrik M Egeter when the order was signed earlier this year, before its announcement on June 3. ’In addition to reducing CO2 emissions by up to 90%, the use of HVO fuels also leads to a significant reduction in particulate matter and exhaust emissions.’
A multimodal terminal has opened at Episcopia Bihor in Oradea, close to Romania’s border with Hungary. Built with support from the European Commission’s Large Infrastructure Operational Programme, the terminal has two 700 m tracks. It will initially handle four trains per week.
COSCO Shipping Ports Abu Dhabi Container Freight Station has signed an MoU to use the Etihad Rail network to transport freight between Khalifa Port and logistics hubs and industrial zones throughout the UAE. ‘We aim to improve the connectivity between our facilities and key markets, reduce transit times and lower our carbon footprint’, said Yu Bin, General Manager of CSP Abu Dhabi CFS, on June 3.
Australian freight operator Aurizon has launched its ‘Respect the sign. Lives are on the line’ level crossing safety campaign. Managing Director & CEO Andrew Harding said this ‘is told through the eyes of those directly impacted by level crossing events – our train crew and the first responders that see the trauma and devastation caused by near-misses and collisions.’
Maritime Transport has ordered a total of 14 reachstackers from SANY and Kalmar to meet growing demand at its UK rail freight terminals and to equip the future Northampton Gateway site and a container storage facility which is to open at the Port of Liverpool later this year.
With financing from UniCredit Leasing, ČD Cargo has acquired two additional CZ Loko EffiLiner 1600 Class 753.6 Bizon diesel-electric locos which were previously used by ÖBB subsidiaries in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
BNSF has announced the promotion of Matt Garland to SVP Transportation & Service Design, Katie Hower to VP Service Design & Network Strategy and Farah Lawler to VP Domestic Intermodal Marketing with effect from September 1. Tom Williams will succeed Steve Bobb as EVP & Chief Marketing Officer, with Jon Gabriel replacing Williams as Group VP Consumer Products.