Freight news – Page 117
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NewsPresidents officially open Azerbaijan – Iran rail link
ASIA: The rail link between Astara in Azerbaijan and similarly-named town on the Iranian side of the border was officially opened with a ceremony on March 29. Presidents Hassan Rouhanid of Iran and Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan participated via a video link from the Azerbaijan – Iran Business Forum which ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Lineas has expanded its Green Xpress enhanced wagonload freight network with the launch of a Lyon Xpress service linking Lyon and Antwerpen in 16 h, with onward connections to the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Slovakia. Lyon Xpress initially runs twice a week, leaving Lyon on Thursday and Saturday, but is to ...
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NewsFinland – Arctic Ocean rail route proposed
EUROPE: A report into options for a rail link from Finnish Lapland to the Arctic Ocean has been published by Finland’s Ministry of Transport & Communications. This concludes that a 465 km route from Rovaniemi via Sodankylä to Kirkenes in Norway would be the best option. The cost is estimated ...
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NewsShift2Rail launches fuel cell research
EUROPE: Recognising growing interest around the world in the use of fuel cells and hydrogen as an alternative to railway electrification, the Shift2Rail joint undertaking announced on March 19 that it had decided to commission research into the technology. Noting that ‘electrifying the transport system is a major priority to ...
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NewsEuroest presents battery hybrid locomotive
ROMANIA: Euroest has unveiled its first LHy-M battery hybrid shunting locomotive, which is to be tested by Tehnotrans Feroviar at the Black Sea port of Constanta. Based on an extensively rebuilt LDH1250 diesel-hydraulic locomotive, the 72 tonne four-axle LHy-M has a 400Ah lithium ion battery powering two 155 kW ...
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NewsAmber Train to link the Baltic States
EUROPE: The freight businesses of the national railways of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have agreed to co-operate to organise an Amber Train intermodal container service running from Šeštokai on the Polish-Lithuanian border to Riga and Tallinn. Representatives of the three railways met in Riga on March 12, and agreed on ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
The European Rail Freight Association has said government rules which would enable Dutch infrastructure manager ProRail to vary track access charges must ‘reflect the ability of rail to compete with road rather than looking inwardly at the railway system’. ERFA said track access charges account for between 20% and 35% ...
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NewsUK backs Bioceanic Corridor
BOLIVIA: Minister of Public Works, Services & Housing Milton Claros has signed a memorandum of understanding with James Thornton, UK Ambassador to Bolivia, covering the provision of technical assistance for the Bioceanic Corridor project to create a rail route between Ilo in Peru and Santos in Brazil, requiring new construction ...
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NewsBulgaria – Turkey piggyback service avoids border delays
EUROPE: PIMK Rail dispatched its first weekly freight service from the Plovdiv intermodal hub in Bulgaria to Çerkezköy in Turkey on March 2. A Siemens Vectron locomotive hauled 17 articulated piggyback wagons carrying lorry trailers, which were able to avoid the long delays to road traffic which can occur at ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Freight traffic has resumed on a 35 km section of the SNCF Réseau network between Oiry and Esternay, serving a cereal-growing area east of Paris. Funding for the €7m upgrade programme was provided by sources including the French government (€2∙25m), the Grand Est region (€1∙7m), SNCF Réseau (€1∙3m) and the ...
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NewsOperators take delivery of rebuilt locomotives
EUROPE: Slovakian open access freight operator PSŽ has taken delivery of EffiLiner 1600 diesel locomotive number 753.608 under a long-term lease from CZ Loko, which produces the locomotives by rebuilding ex-ČD Class 750/753 ‘Bizon’ diesel locos. The Class 753.6 is rated at 1 550 kW, has a maximum speed of ...
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NewsContracts awarded for Belgrano Phase 3
ARGENTINA: Infrastructure authority Trenes Argentinos Infraestructura has awarded contracts to undertake Phase 3 of the track renewals programme on the 1 000 mm gauge Belgrano network. Divided into four lots worth 3∙5bn pesos, Phase 3 covers 300 km including route C12 from Joaquín V González to Metán, as well as ...
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NewsCovilhã — Guarda reopening moves closer
PORTUGAL: Minister of Planning & Infrastructure Pedro Marques and European Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc participated in a ceremony on March 5 to mark the official start of work to upgrade the 46∙5 km Covilhã — Guarda route, closed to traffic since 2009. With 10 km already completed by Infraestruturas de ...
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NewsSouth International Corridor launched
PORTUGAL: Prime Minister António Costa joined his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy and European Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc at a ceremony in Elvas on March 5 to mark the start of work on the South International Corridor. This will combine new construction and upgrades to create a route from the ports ...
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NewsDanish transit freight joint venture to end
EUROPE: Swedish freight operator Green Cargo has decided to withdraw from its DB Cargo Scandinavia joint venture with DB Cargo. The joint venture mainly handles transit traffic through Denmark for the two companies, but Green Cargo said the owners had been unable to reach agreement on certain issues, primarily concerning ...
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NewsNapier – Wairoa reopening to handle ‘Wall of Wood’
NEW ZEALAND: Timber trains are expected to resume running by the end of this year on part of KiwiRail’s mothballed Napier – Gisborne line in the east of North Island, the operator announced on February 26. The line has been out of use for the past six years, but KiwiRail ...
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NewsCN Chief Executive leaves
CANADA: The board of Canadian National Railway announced on March 5 that President & CEO Luc Jobin would be leaving the company with immediate effect. He had succeeded Claude Mongeau as President & CEO on July 1 2016, having previously been Chief Financial Officer. Jean-Jacques Ruest has been appointed Interim ...
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NewsÖBB presents first Vectron under 200-loco framework
AUSTRIA: The first of 30 Class 1293 Siemens Vectron locomotives ordered by Austrian Federal Railways was formally unveiled at Wien Praterstern station on March 5. In January 2017 ÖBB awarded Siemens a framework contract to supply its Rail Cargo Group freight business with up to 100 AC locomotives, 50 AC ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Canadian Pacific Railway has launched its CP TempPro service for transporting products requiring strict temperature control. Port of Tilbury London Ltd is seeking expressions of interest in the design and construction of facilities including new and relocated rail lines on the site of a former power station. Novotrans is ...
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NewsKaliningrad – Moscow piggyback trial
RUSSIA: A lorry trailer has been transported from Kaliningrad to Moscow on a domestically-produced wagon as a part of a trial to assess the viability of cross-border piggyback operation. The trial aimed to verify that a regular piggyback service would be practical on the route, where loads must undergo customs ...