Freight news – Page 103
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NewsSiemens unveils Dual-Mode Vectron
GERMANY: The first of two prototype Vectron Dual-Mode locomotives was formally unveiled at the Siemens Mobility plant in München-Allach on March 11. Announced at InnoTrans 2018 last September, the 160 km/h Bo-Bo electro-diesel locomotive is intended to fill a gap in the Vectron range, and is intended primarily for freight ...
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NewsRevenue up but one-time events hit VTG earnings
VTG: Wagon leasing and rail and tank-container logistics company VTG has announced unaudited group revenue of €1·07bn for 2018, with the 5·7% year-on-year growth attributed to increased demand which saw capacity utilisation reaching 93·5% at the end of the year, the highest for 10 years. The acquisition of Nacco also ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
On March 8 FS Group’s freight business Mercitalia Rail took delivery of the first of 40 Class E494 Traxx DC3 electric locomotives which Bombardier Transportation is producing at its Vado Ligure site under a €400m contract awarded in December 2017. The 6·4 MW locos are to be delivered at a ...
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NewsBLS Cargo acquires Crossrail to strengthen north–south corridor
EUROPE: An agreement for BLS Cargo to acquire 100% of Belgian freight operator Crossrail from Rhenus for an undisclosed price was signed on March 5. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and would be backdated to January 1. Switzerland-based BLS Cargo said it would gain a stronger position on ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Srbija Kargo has taken delivery of the first two of a total of 16 Siemens Vectron locomotives it has ordered in two batches, supported with financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development. TasRail has awarded CRRC Qishuyan a contract to supply 1 067 mm gauge cement hopper wagons. ...
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Rail Business UKChannel Tunnel Brexit works funded in out-of-court settlement
EUROPE: On March 1 the UK government agreed to pay Eurotunnel up to £33m in an out-of-out-court settlement to bring to an end the Channel Tunnel concessionaire’s legal challenge against the Department for Transport’s decision to award ferry companies DFDS and Brittany Ferries contracts to provide cross-Channel freight transport services ...
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NewsLotos Kolej orders Griffins and Dragons
POLAND: Open access freight operator Lotos Kolej signed an 80m złoty contract with Newag on February 28 for the supply of five electric locomotives. Newag is to supply three six-axle Dragon 2 locos and two four-axle Griffin locos by the end of May, and will provide seven years of ...
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Rail Business UKPut customers first, Williams tells UK rail sector
UK: The rail industry needs ‘to adapt to a fast changing world’, and ensure that it focuses on the needs of passenger and freight customers, according to former British Airways Chief Executive Keith Williams, who was last year commissioned by Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling to undertake a ...
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NewsRail Baltica linked logistics terminals approved
LITHUANIA: The government has designated planned freight terminals in Vilnius and Kaunas as projects of national importance, and appointed national railway LG to implement them. ‘The public logistic centres in Vilnius and Kaunas are projects of strategic importance’, said Minister of Transport & Communications Rokas Masiulis on February 20. ‘We ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Following testing, on February 20 Hupac Intermodal launched a five times per week service carrying semitrailers from Antwerpen to Barcelona Morrot in partnership with SNCF and RENFE. On February 19 Israel Railways began hauling ammonia by rail between the port of Haifa and the Tzefa freight terminal near Dimona. The ...
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NewsKiwiRail shakes off earthquake impact
NEW ZEALAND: KiwiRail has announced a 12% year-on-year increase in revenue to NZ$328·8m for the six months to December 2018. This generated an operating surplus of NZ$16·3m, up 7% up on the previous year. ‘We are shaking off the impacts of the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake’, said KiwiRail Chairman Greg Miller ...
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NewsSpain – Luxembourg rail motorway service launched
EUROPE: A ‘rail motorway’ service carrying unaccompanied lorry trailers 1 219 km between Barcelona and Luxembourg was launched on February 19. Augmenting the existing Le Boulou – Bettembourg service, it is the fifth rail motorway route to be launched by SNCF subsidiary VIIA, and the first in Spain. It ...
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NewsBNSF announces $3·57bn capital investment plan
USA: BNSF is planning to spend $3·57bn under its 2019 capital investment plan, up from $3·4bn in 2018 and 2017. It said the emphasis would continue to be on maintaining and expanding its 52 000 route-km network in 28 US states and three Canadian provinces. The infrastructure and rolling stock ...
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NewsOperail to lease rebuilt GE locos to Ukrainian operator
EUROPE: Estonian freight operator Operail has awarded CZ Loko a contract to supply kits for the rebuilding of a further four of its C30-7Ai diesel-electric locomotives to the C30-M design, taking the total to seven. Operail has also agreed to lease two C30-M locos to Ukrainian freight forwarder Lemtrans as ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
TikhvinChemMash is to supply 66 Type 15-6880 methanol tank wagons and 35 Type 15-6926 ammonia wagons to Shchekinoazot by the end of Q1 2019, taking the chemical producer’s fleet of UWC vehicles to 396 wagons. Swiss Post and SBB Cargo have signed a four-year framework agreement for the continued transport ...
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NewsSantiago – Valparaíso proposal submitted
CHILE: Proposals to build a high-performance railway between the capital Santiago and the port of Valparaíso have been formally submitted to the Ministry of Public Works by the Tren Valparaíso Santiago consortium of local firm of Sigdo Koppers and China Railway Engineering Corp. According to the promoters, the US$2·5bn project ...
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NewsAqaba railway feasibility study agreed
JORDAN: The Saudi Jordanian Investment Fund and the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority have signed a memorandum of understanding to undertake feasibility and technical studies for the development of a 195 km railway connecting a planned inland dry port at Ma’an with port facilities around Aqaba. The existing 1 050 ...
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NewsAmber Rail Freight Corridor becomes operational
EUROPE: The Amber Rail Freight Corridor has become operational, as the first new corridor to be established since the original nine defined in 2010. Prearranged trains paths are now available for the 2019-20 timetable year through the corridor’s ‘one stop shop’. Designated as RFC 11, the Amber RFC is ...
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NewsPhase change material cooled container developed
CONTAINER: The University of Birmingham and CRRC Shijiazhuang have developed a container that uses phase change material in place of traditional refrigeration technology. The material changes between liquid and solid depending on the temperature, with the phase change absorbing or releasing energy to maintain the interior of the container ...
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NewsADB grant to help CAREC countries move from landlocked to land-linked
ASIA: The Asian Development Bank has awarded a US$2m regional technical assistance grant to support the development of railway strategies and institutional capabilities in the Central Asia Regional Economic Co-operation countries. CAREC comprises Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and six multilateral institutions. ...