Freight news – Page 130
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NewsSeven railways sign China – Europe container agreement
INTERNATIONAL: A joint working group is to be established to facilitate improvements to container train services between China and Europe. This follows the signing in late April of a multilateral agreement by Belarusian Railway, China Railway Corp, Deutsche Bahn, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, Poland’s PKP, Russian Railways and Ulaanbaatar ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Easyfresh Logistics has undertaken a trial movement of refrigerated containers between Silla near Valencia in Spain and Moerdijk in the Netherlands, using Transfesa facilities at the break of gauge at the Portbou/Cerbère border crossing into France. It is hoped to start a regular service this summer, covering the 1 800 ...
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NewsGB Railfreight to implement Ideagen safety software
UK: GB Railfreight is to implement Ideagen’s Coruson cloud-based compliance management software, which it expects will help improve safety, reporting and risk management and ensure that risk-based decisions are taken using the most recent and accurate data. Coruson will also provide a direct link to the Safety Management Intelligence System ...
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NewsMontecargo privatisation cancelled
MONTENEGRO: The Council for Privatisation & Capital Projects has cancelled plans to sell stakes in national rail freight operator Montecargo and port operator Luka Bar to Poland’s OT Logistics Group. The tender commission believed that while sole bidder OT Logistics was a credible investor and the process ...
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NewsB Logistics renamed Lineas as it aims for modal shift
BELGIUM: The part-privatised former SNCB freight business has been rebranded from B Logistics to Lineas, reflecting what the company sees as a change in focus from survival and business transformation to growth. The new name was chosen to be 'completely different', international and to reflect an ambition to create 'lines' ...
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NewsDB Cargo UK confirms job cuts and reform
UK: Freight operator DB Cargo UK has confirmed that it is to launch its ‘future business model’ on July 2, having reached an agreement on the changes with the unions which represent the majority of its workforce. Discussions with ASLEF, RMT, TSSA and Unite began in October 2016 when DB ...
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NewsFlat wagons certified
RUSSIA: RM Rail has obtained certification for two designs of flat wagon designed for heavy loads and a service life of 32 years. The Type 13-1258 wagon is designed for transporting wheeled and heavy crawler vehicles, steel structures, heavy containers, tank containers for dangerous goods of up to 36 tonnes ...
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NewsUnited Wagon Co forms tank container subsidiary
RUSSIA: Rolling stock manufacturing group United Wagon Co has established a subsidiary to arrange multimodal tank container and container shipments in the CIS region, southeast Asia and the Middle East. Unicon 1520 will have a fleet of high-capacity flat wagons produced by UWC, as well as tank containers ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Ukrainian national railway UZ and Polish broad gauge line operator PKP LHS have agreed a 1bn hryvna joint project to electrify the 80 km route from Kovel in Ukraine to the border in 2018-19. According to UZ figures 90% of rail freight between Ukraine and Poland uses the route, and ...
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NewsChinese locomotive arrives in Serbia
SERBIA: The first of two CRRC Zhuzhou locomotives ordered by state electricity generator Elektroprivreda Srbije in April 2016 has arrived in Obrenovac, after being shipped from China to the Romanian port of Constanța then by continuing by river to Sremska Mitrovica. The 7 MW six-axle CRRC Zhuzhou locomotive with a ...
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NewsPerformance contracts signed despite regulator's concerns
FRANCE: Three 10-year performance contracts between the government and the SNCF group were formally signed on April 20 by Finance Minister Michel Sapin, Transport Minister Alain Vidalies, Frédéric Saint-George as head of the SNCF supervisory board, Patrick Jeantet as President of infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau and Florence Parly, Director-General of ...
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NewsOpen access operators launch Alliance of Rail New Entrants
EUROPE: The Alliance for Rail New Entrants was launched on April 20 to bring together non-incumbent passenger and freight operators who are ‘committed to fair competition and open markets as the only way to shift freight and passengers from road to rail by offering attractive and additional choices’. ALLRAIL has ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
CRRC Dalian has manufactured the first two of four Type CDN10A diesel locomotives ordered by Alborzniroo for use on open access services in Iran. They are customised to withstand high temperatures and sandstorms. Kiruna Wagon has completed initial static testing of a side dump wagon and unloading station ...
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NewsDLR unveils automated freight train vision
GERMANY: Aerospace research institute Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt unveiled its vision for an automated freight train on April 13. Part of its ongoing Next Generation Train project, the NGT Cargo concept is intended to increase rail’s share of the European freight market by making it ‘more appealing’, according ...
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NewsFreight operator’s safety certification revoked
NETHERLANDS: Freight operator HSL Logistik suspended all operations on April 12 after the Human Environment & Transport Inspectorate revoked its safety certification. ILT’s decision to revoke HSL Logistik’s certification followed close monitoring of the operator after a series of incidents, including three signals passed at danger during the last six ...
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NewsUnipetrol orders Vectron locomotives
CZECH REPUBLIC: The Unipetrol Doprava transport subsidiary of petrochemical group Unipetrol has ordered three Siemens Vectron multi-system electric locomotives as part of its fleet renewal programme. The first is scheduled to be delivered in December 2017 and the other two in spring 2018. The 6·4 MW locomotives will be equipped ...
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NewsTurkish national wagon rolled out
TURKEY: Rolling stock manufacturer Tüdemsaş has unveiled its own design of articulated container wagon, developed since 2013 in partnership with national railway TCDD. The 29·5 m long twin-section Type Sggmrs wagon has a tare weight of 25·5 tonnes, which permits a payload of 109·5 tonnes, 4 tonnes more than existing ...
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NewsRENFE plans for profitable freight
SPAIN: The freight business of national operator RENFE is aiming to move into profit within three years under its 2017-19 management plan. This is in order to ensure a sustainable future after several years of losses which have resulted in a major deficit. Development of international traffic will be a ...
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NewsSBB wants better co-operation with road transport
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways and national road transport association Astag have joined forces to demand a more effective freight transport policy at national level and better co-operation between road and rail. At a press conference on April 7 in Basel at which both organisations pledged support for the planned Gateway ...
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NewsLondon joins the Silk Road as UK – China rail freight service sets off
UK: The first rail freight service from the UK to China departed from the rail terminal at DP World’s London Gateway port in Essex on April 10, carrying containers containing exports including soft drinks, vitamins, pharmaceuticals, baby products and whisky. ‘London Gateway has joined the Silk Road’, said DP ...