ÖBB’s Rail Cargo Group has put into traffic a novel wagon design for carrying salt which will be used to support Donau Chemie’s efforts to move more produce by rail. The operator says it has worked with Donau Chemie to develop a bespoke salt hopper fitted with a highly resilient internal coating to reduce the risk of corrosion and to speed up loading and unloading. The wagons are now being used on flows linking Koper in Slovenia and Ebensee in Austria with the Donau Chemie plant at Brückl, where salt is required for electrolysis
WH Davis is to design and manufacture 16 wagons for the transport of hot steel billets at Celsa UK’s Cardiff site. The wagons will use components from existing vehicles integrated with a newly designed wagon body.
Giesecke+Devrient launched G+D Smart Label at the Consumer Electronics Show 2025. This is an ultra-thin tracking device is intended to turn a cargo shipment into an IoT-enabled asset. The company says the credit card-sized device would be well suited for use in rail freight operations because of its compact size, lightweight design and precision tracking functionality.
French intermodal operator Combirail is launching a new service between Lille, Avignon and Miramas, in conjunction with road-rail operator T3M, part of its parent Open Modal group. Augmenting the Bonneuil-sur-Marne – Avignon service launched in 2020 and the Valenton – Marseille route that followed in 2021, the operator said it had put in place the technical and logistics organisation to ensure reliability on the 1 200 km Lille – Miramas haul which would strengthen its operations on the southeast axis.
Spanish operator Logitren, a subsidiary of shipping operator Cosco, has taken delivery of the first of two Stadler Euro4001 diesel locos ordered to bolster its fleet. The locos are fitted with a Caterpillar C175 prime mover to meet Euro Stage V emissions requirements, in contrast to the previous Euro4000 design which featured an EMD two-stroke engine. Logitren will use the locos on its network linking ports in València and Bilbao with Madrid and Zaragoza; many of these flows use the strategically important line from Sagunt to Teruel which is not yet electrified.
Stefan Kibbas took on the role of Managing Director of DB Cargo Belgium on January 1 in addition to his position as Chairman of fellow DB Cargo subsidiary RBH Logistics, which he has held since March 2021.