TX Logistik has taken delivery of the first three of 40 Siemens Mobility Vectron locomotives ordered in May 2023. They will primarily be used on the Brenner and Swiss corridors, with 20 equipped for operation in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and the Netherlands to be delivered by the beginning of 2025. The remaining 20 equipped for Germany, Austria and Italy are scheduled to arrive by the end of 2025.
Genesee & Wyoming now owns the Central Gulf Railcar Services wagon repair shop in Mobile, Alabama. It can accommodate up to 90 wagons at a time and offers transload storage for up to 14 wagons. ‘With the addition of CGRS, G&W will focus on providing safe and efficient railcar maintenance in the Mobile area, which can assist shippers in managing their railcar fleets throughout the southeast US’, said Kimberly Thompson, Regional VP Sales & Marketing, on October 2. CGRS is G&W’s third dedicated maintenance and repair operation in North America, alongside a wagon facility in Ontario and a locomotive maintenance shop in Alberta.
Spanish infrastructure manager ADIF has awarded Convensa a €13·5m contact for track renewals of 76 km of the single-track main line from Zaragoza to Lleida between San Juan de Mozarrifar and Selgua. This will eventually form part of the ‘Rail Motorway’ route between Zaragoza and Tarragona.
North Korea’s official news agency reports ’the railway transport sector overfulfilled its freight transport plan for September by conducting a dynamic campaign for increasing transport’.
Canada’s Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund and the Fund for Railway Accidents Involving Designated Goods have been merged into Ship & Rail Compensation Canada, a single federal office for anyone affected by oil spills from ships or major railway accidents involving crude oil.
On October 1 DP World launched a second weekly rail service connecting the London Gateway and Southampton logistics hubs, operated by Freightliner. Customers can benefit from DP World’s Modal Shift programme which provides a financial incentive to move import-laden containers by train to railheads within 225 km of the Southampton logistics hub; this has already boosted the share of rail freight at Southampton from 21% to more than 30%.
Duos Technologies has signed an agreement to provide CN with machine vision/AI rolling stock inspection as a subscription service for a further five years. The Railcar Inspection Portals complement manual inspections, and from October the services is being offered to shippers and owners of wagons using the CN network. Duos CEO Chuck Ferry said plans include ‘additional cutting-edge capabilities with special emphasis on wheels and brakes’.
Uzbekistan’s UTY has awarded CRRC contracts to supply 38 locomotives and modernise the 12 O’zbekiston series locos built in China in 2003-04.
Cando Rail & Terminals has appointed Eric Buettner as its first Chief Legal Officer. He has more than 10 years’ experience practising corporate and commercial law with a focus on mergers and acquisitions at MLT Aikins and has acted as external counsel for Cando since 2018.
Advertising company SignValue is to manage Norfolk Southern’s portfolio of 1 500 billboard licenses across more than 20 US states, aiming to maximise its value and identify more opportunities.