On January 31 Softronic delivered the first of two Transmontana electric locomotives which CER Cargo ordered at InnoTrans 2024. The purchase was financed through Deutsche Leasing. The loco has Hitachi ETCS as well as Mirel and PZB train protection systems, enabling operation in Romania, Hungary and Slovakia.
Ahead of the state election on March 8, the government of Western Australia has announced plans to negotiate to take the state’s rail freight network into the public sector after 25 years. The lease with Arc Infrastructure has 24 more years to run, and the government said a final decision on ending the agreement depends on whether it is deemed ’economically and financially responsible to do so’.
Kazakhstan’s KTZ has begun using a second track installed on the 127 km line between Balkhash and Moiynty. The addional track is part of the double-tracking of the 836 km Dostyk – Moiynty route which is to be completed this summer to provide a five-fold increase in freight capacity.
Intermodal terminal technology suppler Remprex has completed a strategic refinancing with the participation of new and existing investors including BTG Pactual US Private Credit Investments and long-term investor Cyprium Investment Partners.
The Community of European Railway & Infrastructure Companies and the European Transport Workers’ Federation have issued a joint statement calling for: a level playing field between all modes of transport, long-term investment in rail freight, promoting single wagon and combined transport operations, digitalisation, and greater cross-border co-operation and harmonisation in rail capacity management.
A new arrangement between wood company Ernslaw One, KiwiRail and Napier Port will see a train run five days a week on the Napier – Palmerston North line with 19 wagons carrying 600 tonnes of logs. This replaces a train that used to run from the now closed Tangiwai Mill with timber, lumber and pulp to Napier Port, and avoids the need for road transport. ‘The move away from road cartage to rail has many advantages’, said Steve Couper, SNI Regional Manager for Ernslaw One. ‘It is a safety gain for the logging truck drivers, as well as for other road users and local residents. We approached KiwiRail and Napier Port to negotiate a deal that would make it feasible, and after some pencil sharpening, we’ve been able to get this agreement in place and get these logs on to rail.’
Direct Rail Services has begun moving 46 400 tonnes of aggregate over three years from Shap quarry to Nuclear Waste Services’ Low Level Waste Repository site near Drigg in Cumbria. The material will be used to replace a protective barrier over the legacy disposal trenches. This is the first time DRS has used its JNA-Z box wagons built by WH Davis and leased from VTG Rail UK.