Freight news – Page 120
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NewsSitarail modernisation underway
AFRICA: Ceremonies were held in December to mark the formal start of work on a long-awaited project to rehabilitate the 1 260 km metre-gauge railway linking Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire with Ouagadougou in neighbouring Burkina Faso. Announced in mid-2015, the project was dependent upon renegotiation of the concession under which ...
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NewsPortugal plans €626m South International Corridor upgrading
PORTUGAL: Having called tenders in March last year for an €18·5m upgrading of the 11 km between Elvas and the Spanish border as part of the first phase of the proposed South International Corridor, infrastructure manager Infraestruturas de Portugal provided further details of the work programme in early January at ...
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NewsAutomatic train operation to be tested on Dutch freight corridor
NETHERLANDS: Automatic Train Operation is to be tested on the Betuwe Route dedicated freight line this year, following the signing of an agreement between infrastructure manager ProRail, freight operator Rotterdam Rail Feeding and technology supplier Alstom. It is planned that an RRF locomotive will run approximately 100 km from the ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
India’s Ministry of Railways has launched a Smart Freight Operation Optimisation & Real Time Information application, which Indian Railways freight managers can use to track the movement of freight trains and monitor business performance. The UK’s Rail Freight Group has announced its sponsor partners for 2018: VTG Rail; Direct Rail ...
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NewsGE Transportation signs Kazakh shunting loco contract
KAZAKHSTAN: Contracts for the supply of 300 shunting locomotives and the provision of 18 years of support for 175 TEP33A passenger locomotives were signed by national railway KTZ and GE Transportation during Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s visit to the USA on January 17. The two contracts are worth more than ...
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NewsAcademy to support Ethiopian railway operations
ETHIOPIA: Work is to start later this year on the construction of a railway training academy, Ethiopian Railways Corp announced on January 13. When fully operational, the academy is expected to employ around 250 teachers and administrative staff, training up to 1 00 students at a time in seven different ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Hupac has launched a thrice-weekly direct container service between Hannover and Novara. This is an 'evolution' of its Hamburg/Hannover – Busto shuttle, which continues to run as a Hamburg – Busto service. Hupac said the expansion of its 4 m cleared network was in response to the growing market requirements ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Finland's first open access operator Fenniarail quadrupled its contracted freight volumes with the start on January 4 of a contract to haul 30 000 wagonloads/year of imported birch from the Russian border at Vainikkala to UPM's mills at Kaukaa and Kymi. UPM is the first pulp and paper maker to ...
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NewsCRRC to supply locomotives to Jamaica
JAMAICA: Aluminium company Alpart has awarded CRRC Qishuyan Co a contract to supply DF8B diesel locomotives in the first half of 2018. CRRC said the order which was confirmed during December was its first from Jamaica, which is the 104th country where the group has won contracts. ...
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NewsMombasa – Nairobi standard gauge freight service launched
KENYA: The first commercial freight train on the Standard Gauge Railway ran from Mombasa to the Embakasi Inland Container Depot in Nairobi on January 1. The 52-wagon train carried 104 TEU, which the operator pointed out was ‘almost equivalent to the trucks operating daily on the Mombasa – Nairobi highway.’ ...
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NewsTikhvinSpetsMash to supply 548 timber wagons
RUSSIA: United Wagon Co subsidiary TikhvinSpetsMash has won orders to supply a total of 548 high capacity timber wagons to six customers in the first quarter of 2018. The orders have been placed by Lokotrans (330), DV Real Trans Group (50); Sibirsky Krai (50); cardboard packaging company ...
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NewsCN orders 200 GE diesel locos
CANADA: In order to ‘accommodate future growth opportunities and drive operational efficiency’, Canadian National announced on December 22 that it had ordered 200 new diesel locomotives from GE Transportation for delivery over the next three years. The order includes a mix of EPA Tier 4 compliant Evolution Series locomotives and ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Croatian open access freight company Transagent Špedicija is to deploy a former British Rail Class 92 multi-system locomotive previously used by DB Cargo Romania on intermodal services from the port of Rijeka to Hungary and Serbia. Austrian operator Stern & Hafferl has ordered a Bombardier Traxx F140 AC Last Mile ...
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NewsSamskip expands wagon fleet
EUROPE: Logistics company Samskip has taken delivery of the last of 100 Type T-3000 wagons manufactured by Slovakian company Tatravagónka which it is leasing from Nacco under a five-year deal. The wagons are designed to transport Mega Huckepack trailers as well as all types of containers. They are equipped with ...
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NewsMUL Railcars opens US wagon leasing office
USA: Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Co Ltd has opened an office in Portland, Oregon, as a base for its MUL Railcars wagon leasing activities. This follows the company’s expansion through a strategic wagon supply and maintenance alliance with The Greenbrier Companies which was finalised in June. James T Sharp ...
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NewsNetwork Rail awards ETCS freight fitment contract
UK: Network Rail announced on December 19 that it had awarded Siemens Rail Automation a contract to design, test and obtain approval for installing Trainguard 200 onboard ETCS equipment on freight traction. This would be the initial phase of what Network Rail describes as ‘one of the world’s biggest ETCS ...
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NewsHunter Harrison dead at 73
USA: ‘With great sadness’, CSX announced on December 16 that its President & Chief Executive Officer E Hunter Harrison had died at the age of 73, ‘of unexpectedly severe complications following a short illness’. Other reports suggested that he had been unwell for some time. James M Foote, who joined ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
On December 14 TX Logistik signed a firm order for Bombardier Transportation to supply 40 Traxx MS3 multi-system locomotives for use on Italy – Switzerland – Germany services from mid-2019. Bombardier is to maintain them for 15 years, and there is an option for up to 25 more locos. The ...
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NewsStrategic partner sought for RENFE freight
SPAIN: Unveiling on December 14 the government’s 2017-23 rail freight development plan, Development Minister Íñigo de la Serna announced that a ‘strategic partner’ is to be sought for RENFE’s freight business. This partner would hold up to 50% of a new company to be established in 2019, focused on continuing ...
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NewsWabtec awarded Santos yard control contract
BRAZIL: Freight operator RUMO has awarded Wabtec Corp a US$5m contract to design, install and commission a train management and dispatching system to improve safety and efficiency at its yard serving the port of Santos. The scope includes signalling and interlocking integration and staff training. Completion is planned the end ...