Freight news – Page 115
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NewsRio Tinto’s automated trains approved
AUSTRALIA: Rio Tinto has been granted accreditation by Australia’s Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator, approving the autonomous operation of iron ore trains in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, the group announced on May 18. Confirming that the AutoHaul project is ‘on schedule to be completed by the ...
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NewsBangladesh Railway orders 10 locomotives
BANGLADESH: Hyundai Rotem is to supply 10 mixed-traffic diesel-electric locomotives to Bangladesh Railway under a 41bn won contract announced on May 18. Intended for mixed traffic use on the metre gauge Dhaka – Chittagong route, the locomotives will be delivered from Hyundai Rotem’s Changwon plant in South Korea starting ...
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NewsSrbija Kargo to purchase Vectron locos
SERBIA: National freight operator Srbija Kargo has successfully completed negotiations with Siemens for the purchase of eight multi-system electric locomotives, CEO Dušan Garibović said on May 15. The procurement is being supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development. Garibović said financial terms were favourable, and the agreement ...
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NewsFreight trains return to Bogotá
COLOMBIA: Commercial freight trains resumed operation on two sections of the country’s Red Férrea de Atlantico on May 8, following an extensive state-funded rehabilitation programme. According to the head of the national infrastructure agency Dimitri Zaninovich, the government has invested US$420m to revitalise 876 route-km linking Bogota, Belencito, La Dorada ...
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NewsNorfolk Southern to work with Silicon Valley startup accelerator
USA: Norfolk Southern has joined Silicon Valley technology startup accelerator Plug & Play’s Supply Chain & Logistics Innovation Platform, seeking to engage with companies developing artificial intelligence, machine learning, the industrial internet of things and advanced analytics for supply chains. Plug & Play will identify and connect Norfolk Southern with ...
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NewsFunding package to boost TasRail infrastructure
AUSTRALIA: The federal government has allocated A$59·8m for the Tasmanian Freight Rail Revitalisation ProgrammeAs part of its latest budget, matching a similar commitment from the state. The A$119·6m Tranche Two of TasRail’s Infrastructure Investment Fund is intended to support infrastructure rehabilitation and enhancement works over a four-year period from June ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Steiermarkbahn has expanded its fleet and reduced its reliance on leasing companies with the purchase of a batch of Tatravagónka four-axle Sggnss container wagons. On May 11 an inaugural freight service left Bayan Nur in China's Inner Mongolia for Tehran in Iran. The 8 352 km journey via Kazakhstan and ...
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NewsAndrex Logistics opens transhipment facility
POLAND: Andrex Logistics has opened its Chryzanów transhipment facility in Poland, close to the Siemianówka – Svisloch border crossing with Belarus. Branded as the East West Intermodal Hub, the 60 000 m2 site has 14 km of 1 435 mm and 1 520 mm gauge track and a 41 ...
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NewsHerzog to provide short line PTC
USA: Herzog Technologies is to make its Positive Train Control support and hosting services available to smaller freight railroads under an agreement with the American Short Line & Regional Railroad Association announced on May 10. ‘The implementation of PTC is one of the most complex and challenging projects to be ...
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NewsBologna – Firenze route modernisation to start this year
ITALY: Work will begin in October to modernise the 80 km direttissima between Bologna and Prato, north of Firenze. The fast line between the two cities was inaugurated in 1934 and forms part of pan-European Corridor V. Since December 2009, express passenger services between Bologna and Firenze have mostly been ...
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NewsMRCE orders 25 more Vectrons
EUROPE: Leasing company Mitsui Rail Capital Europe announced an order for further 25 Siemens Vectron locomotives on May 8. The order includes 10 multisystem 6·4 MW locomotives suitable for operation ‘across Europe from the Netherlands to southeast Europe’ which will be delivered at the end of 2018, as well as ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Genesee & Wyoming company Freightliner unveiled its new brand identity on May 1. It will now commence rebranding its intermodal and bulk rail freight terminals and Freightliner Road Services lorries, while 'taking a phased approach' with locomotives and wagons. The European Rail Freight Association’s annual meeting on April 18 called ...
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NewsKansas City Southern to deploy CloudMoyo software
USA: CloudMoyo is to deploy its Microsoft Azure cloud-based CloudMoyo Rail Transportation Management software to modernise Kansas City Southern’s Management Control System and provide analytics and artificial intelligence to improve operational efficiency. KCS already uses CloudMoyo’s crew management, business intelligence and analytics packages, and is to deploy CRTM in ...
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NewsUnion Pacific orders low-emission shunters
USA: Union Pacific has ordered 10 EMD24B low-emission locomotives from Progress Rail for yard shunting work in California. Announced on May 1, the order is the first for the EMD24B design, following the testing of a demonstrator by Pacific Harbor Line at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. ...
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NewsPKP PLK reinstates line for freight services
POLAND: Infrastructure manager PKP PLK has rehabilitated the 11 km Jełowa – Murów section of the Opole – Namysłów route to support an expansion of Stora Enso Wood Products’ plant at Murów. Passenger services were withdrawn form the route in 1992, and the line was taken out of use following ...
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NewsHupac expands port hinterland network with ERS acquisition
EUROPE: Intermodal freight operator Hupac announced an agreement on May 2 to purchase ERS Railways from Genesee & Wyoming Inc. This includes ERS’s 47% stake in Hamburg-based operator boxXpress. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of this year, subject to regulatory approval. ERS would remain a ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
A study commissioned from consultancy HTC by rail freight associations ERFA and NEE and combined transport association UIRR has estimated that the economic impact caused by the tunnel collapse at Rastatt in Germany last August was €2·04bn. The tunnel collapse blocked the strategically important Rhein Valley main line for several ...
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NewsUK railway news round-up
FirstGroup and joint venture partner Trenitalia have decided to withdraw from the East Midlands franchise competition, in order to focus on bidding for the West Coast Partnership franchise. ‘This is an exciting opportunity to be the first operator of High Speed 2, as well as to run conventional West Coast ...
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NewsChina and Gulf states discuss OTIF accession to support international freight
INTERNATIONAL: China and the Gulf Co-Operation Council member states are discussing accession to the COTIF convention, which provides a legal framework for the operation of international rail traffic. China’s interest is related to the growth of east-west freight traffic to and from Europe. Its accession would be politically significant ...
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NewsLocomotives arrive in Abidjan
CÔTE D'IVOIRE: Four 2 250 hp Type GT22 diesel locomotives which Sitarail had ordered from US supplier NRE were delivered to the Port of Abidjan on April 9. Annocuing the arrival of the locomotives, the Bolloré Transport & Logistics subsidiary said it was continuing to develop the metre-gauge network in ...