Freight news – Page 146
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NewsPakistan Railways ‘out of intensive care’
PAKISTAN: Minister of Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique has said Pakistan Railways is now ‘out of intensive care’. The federal budget for 2015-16 has allocated Rs41bn for PR’s non-staff costs, a business class Karachi – Islamabad passenger service has been launched and freight services to Iran restarted. The 2015-16 budget ...
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NewsMassachusetts buys CSX line
USA: Massachusetts Department of Transportation announced on June 17 that it had completed the acquisition of the 34 km Framingham Secondary Rail Line from CSX Corp for $23m. This is intended to support current freight services and protect the corridor for potential passenger use. The line carries a limited passenger ...
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NewsNational Steel Car to supply 700 potash wagons
CANADA: National Steel Car has been awarded a C$70m contract to supply 700 wagons to Canpotex, a marketing and export company which is jointly owned by three potash producers. The wagons will be used to transport potash from Saskatchewan to ports in Canada and the USA. National Steel Car has ...
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NewsCSX agrees Louisville & Indiana enhancement
USA: A $100m agreement for CSX to upgrade and operate over the Louisville & Indiana Railroad’s 170 km corridor between Indianapolis, Indiana, and Louisville, Kentucky, was finalised on June 19. CSX will purchase the easement for $10m, and the operating agreement provides for $90m in infrastructure improvements on the former ...
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NewsPakistan Railways orders GE locomotives
PAKISTAN: An agreement for Pakistan Railways to purchase 55 GE Transportation diesel locomotives was signed by PR’s Director of Procurement Ziauddin Ahmed Qureshi and GE Regional Sales Director Ashfaque Nainar in Lahore on June 20. The 1 676 mm gauge 4 500 hp locomotives are to be supplied from ...
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NewsTurkish locomotive developed with domestic technology
TURKEY: Tülomsaş has rolled out a prototype electric locomotive designed and manufactured using Turkish technology. Intended for shunting and short-distance light freight duties, the E1000 is a single-cab Bo-Bo rated at 1 MW. It has been produced in partnership with research agency Tubitak and national railway TCDD under a ...
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NewsEastern Dedicated Freight Corridor civils contract signed
INDIA: Dedicated Freight Corridor Corp of India Ltd has awarded a design and build contract covering the civil works for the 402 km New Bhaupur (Kanpur) – Mughalsarai section of the Eastern DFC, which will eventually run for 1 839 km from Ludhiana to Dankuni near Kolkata. The Rs50·8bn contract ...
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NewsGas-fuelled locomotive passes acceptance trials
RUSSIA: Bryansk Engineering Plant’s prototype gas-fuelled TEM19 shunting locomotive has passed acceptance trials, and a pilot batch of up to 50 locomotives is now planned. The TEM19 was developed by Transmashholding subsidiary BMZ, with partners including Uralcryomash Volzhsky Diesel and the VNIKTI rolling stock research institute in Kolomna. The ...
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NewsUnited Wagon signs grain hopper contract
RUSSIA: Tehnotrans has signed an agreement for United Wagon Co’s Tikhvin plant to supply 500 grain hopper wagons under a long-term lease by the end of 2016. The wagons will be to a new design with 25 tonne axleload bogies, enabling the capacity to be increased to 120 m3 or ...
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NewsTanzanian standard gauge contracts announced
TANZANIA: A Chinese consortium led by China Railway Materials has been awarded a US$7·6bn contract to build a 2 561 km standard gauge railway from Dar es Salaam to Burundi and Rwanda, Minister of Transport Samuel Sitta told parliament on May 30. Construction could be formally launched within weeks Sitta ...
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NewsSydney intermodal terminal agreement
AUSTRALIA: An agreement for the development and operation of a major intermodal freight terminal in southwest Sydney was signed by the federal government’s Moorebank Intermodal Co and the Sydney Intermodal Terminal Alliance of Qube Holdings (67%) and Aurizon (33%) on June 4. The development would be on federal and ...
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NewsNew Zealand increases rail funding
NEW ZEALAND: Additional funding for KiwiRail was announced in the budget presented by Finance Minister Bill English on May 21, although he also called for savings to be identified. The national railway is to get NZ$210m from the Future Investment Fund in 2015-16, and a further NZ$190m was announced as ...
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NewsRumo outlines ALL investment plans
BRAZIL: Following its merger with América Latina Logística, Rumo Logística has briefed analysts on investment plans for the ALL freight network up to 2019, when it is planning to spend a total of R$7∙4bn on new projects. Under the first phase running until the end of 2016 when total expenditure ...
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NewsZSSK Cargo wagon sale approved
SLOVAKIA: Competition authority PÚSR gave a final approval for the wagon sale and leaseback deal between national rail freight operator ZSSK Cargo and leasing company VTG on May 12. The entry of a strategic partner to Cargo Wagon is part of a plan to consolidate the freight business which the ...
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NewsCowra Lines tender fails to find private operator
AUSTRALIA: The government of New South Wales has been unsuccessful in its attempt to find a private operator to revive the dormant Cowra Lines for freight services, New South Wales Minister for Roads, Maritime & Freight Duncan Gay has announced. The 200 km Cowra Lines running from Blayney to Harden ...
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NewsTurkish rail market opening coming this year
TURKEY: Legislation outlining the legal framework for liberalisation of the railway sector was published in the government’s official journal on May 2. Publication of the Law on Capacity Allocation & Network Access paves the way for market opening to be introduced by the end of this year, with state railway ...
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NewsOman Rail seeks operating partner
OMAN: National railway project promoter Oman Rail is seeking an international rail operator with ‘extensive technical and commercial experience combined with local market knowledge’ to form a long-term partnership to operate and maintain the future 2 135 km network. Oman Rail’s partner would initially support the development of skills ...
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NewsCN announces C$2·7bn capital programme for 2015
NORTH AMERICA: On May 6 CN announced plans to invest C$2·7bn during 2015. ‘With the work season now well underway, CN is embarking on a large number of maintenance and construction projects to ensure we continue to run a safe railway and play a continuing role as a true backbone ...
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NewsECP brakes mandated as tank car standards are tightened
NORTH AMERICA: Electronically-controlled pneumatic braking will be required on unit trains carrying high-hazard flammable materials after January 2021, under a new rule announced in Washington DC on May 1 by US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Canadian Transport Minister Lisa Raitt. Other measures to improve safety include enhanced construction standards ...
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NewsCryogenic LNG tank wagon unveiled
EUROPE: Wagon leasing company VTG and US-based cryogenic transport specialist Chart Industries unveiled what is claimed to be the first purpose-built tank wagon for liquefied natural gas on May 5. Having been developed over the past three years by the two companies and VTG’s Waggonbau Graaff business, the wagon unveiled ...