Rail Cargo Logistics-RUS organised the delivery of large Caterpillar off-road machines 4 000 km from the Port of Paldiski in Estonia to Nur-Sultan in Kazakhstan.
A study undertaken by Stantec on behalf of New Zealand’s South Island Regional Transport Committee Chairs Group has identified ‘substantial opportunities’ for shifting freight from road to rail. It found that investment of NZ$20m to NZ$30m across the South Island could shift the equivalent of 8% of existing road freight to rail, raising rail freight volumes by about 40% and bringing NZ$12m to NZ$18m in wider cost savings for society.
US-based container and wagon leasing company CAI is 'actively negotiating' the sale of its fleet of 5 631 wagons, with a view to completion this year. 'We have been actively managing our various businesses to reflect the current uncertain economic environment, and as a result, have made the decision to sell our remaining railcar fleet', said President & CEO Victor Garcia on August 7. 'Although we continue to see improving trends in the returns and utilisation of our railcars, we believe it is in the interest of our shareholders to reallocate the capital invested in our railcar fleet to other investments including the potential repurchase of additional shares.’
As part of the $870m Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility project to expand rail capacity at the Port of Long Beach, the Board of Harbor Commissioners has awarded HDR Engineering a $39m five-year contract for engineering design services and Hill International a $18m contract for programme management and real estate services. ‘Modernising Pier B will allow our marine container terminals to move more cargo seamlessly from the docks to their destinations in America’s heartland’, said President Tracy Egoscue. ‘These efficiencies also advance our environmental goals under the Clean Air Action Plan.’
UGL announced on August 8 that it had won a contract to build four diesel locomotives for Pacific National.
Texas Deepwater Deer Park Terminal and Shell have completed refurbishment of the Deer Park Rail Terminal on the Houston Ship Channel. It can load up to 48 tank wagons per day, with the initial focus being on diesel for Mexico and the Permian Basin.
On October 7 CN and CSX are to launch an intermodal service between CN’s greater Montréal and southern Ontario areas, and the CSX-served ports of Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey and the New York City metropolitan area. ‘Over the long term, the freight market will increasingly depend on demand driven by the consumer economy and the rail industry must create new intermodal services that can successfully rival the over-the-road options’, said CN President & CEO JJ Ruest. ‘This new intermodal offering aims to convert long-haul trucks to interline rail services’, added Keith Reardon, Senior Vice-President of consumer product supply chain at CN.
On August 12 Đuro Đaković Specijalna Vozila signed an €18·5m agreement to supply Shimmns wagons to a French customer.
Genesee & Wyoming’s Georgia Southwestern Railroad has opened a Choice Terminal bulk transfer facility in Bainbridge. ‘Customers in southwest Georgia, southeast Alabama and the nearby Florida Panhandle can receive inbound, bulk raw materials via rail at the Bainbridge terminal, hold them on site, and have them delivered to their facilities via truck on a just-in-time basis’, said GSWR President Jim Irvin. ‘Likewise, outbound bulk products can be transported to the terminal via truck for loading onto railcars to their final destinations.’