Cando Rail & Terminals has opened its Southlands Rail Yard in Strathcona County, Alberta, to serve Imperial’s Strathcona refinery as well as other local customers. Imperial is building a renewable diesel facility which will use feedstocks such as canola oil transported to the site by rail. There are more than 600 wagon storage spaces.
Lobito Atlantic Railway has leased two G18U shunting locomotives from Traxtion for use at the Angolan port of Lobito. The leasing company will provide maintenance services and train local staff.
Rail&Truck Union, the future operator of the Algeciras to Zaragoza ‘rail motorway’, is taking delivery of seven Stadler Euro6000 locomotives on lease from Alpha Trains and 135 double pocket wagons from Wascosa. The Spanish government’s €74m of Recovery & Resilience Programme funding requires the fleet to be ready for service by December 31 2025, although the infrastructure work including loading gauge enhancement is not expected to be completed until Q4 2026. RTU is seeking alternative uses to avoid the need for storage.
Mercitalia Intermodal is to equip 600 wagons with PJM’s digital WaggonTracker system which provides data on speed, direction, geofencing, wheelset performance, real-time brake and kingpin monitoring and derailment detection. A local radio system within the train provides real time communication between the wagons and the driver. WaggonTracker is compatible with a future digital automatic coupler system and can be expanded with customised applications.
On February 12 the government of Canada announced National Trade Corridors funding for: Canadian National’s Jaleslie Siding Extension project to enhance the fluidity of freight and passenger services on the single-track corridor between Kamloops and Vancouver (C$10m); the NSD Inland Port project to develop a multi-commodity facility in Terrace, BC (C$6·2m); the Battle River Railway Upgrade in Forestburg, Alberta (C$5·7m); Richardson International’s North Shore Railyard Expansion project (C$5m); Quasar Platform’s Digitising Canada’s Rail Supply Chain project to create a digital platform to monitor wagons in real time (C$3·5m); and IntermodeX Logistics’ Ridley North Off-Dock and Transloading Expansion project to build a container and transloading facility at the port of Prince Rupert (C$2·7m)
Brenner corridor freight operator Rail Traction Co has leased three Siemens Eurosprinter Class 189 locomotives from Akiem for use in northern Italy. The deal includes maintenance.
On January 7 Sweden deposited its instrument of ratification of the modifications to COTIF and Appendices E (CUI) and G (ATMF). The modifications adopted by OTIF’s 13th General Assembly in September 2018 concern, among other things, the adoption of a new Appendix H — Uniform Rules concerning the Safe Operation of Trains in International Traffic. Sweden is the 13th OTIF Member State to ratify these modifications.
Kazakhstan’s national railway KTZ is considering the possibility of expanding its terminal capacity at the port of Anaklia in Georgia.
Ann Begeman has been appointed to the CSX board of directors. She served two terms as a member of the Surface Transportation Board, and since 2022 has been a consultant on railway regulatory and government affairs.