ENNA Transport has signed a long-term agreement with Railpool to lease three Bombardier Traxx locomotives for use in Croatia. The deal includes maintenance by Railpool’s local partner Končar Electric Vehicles. ‘ENNA Transport has really been a key actor at the growing cargo hub port of Rijeka’, commented Railpool CEO Torsten Lehnert. ‘We are glad to support their growing business operations by providing a reliable locomotive fleet along with maximum availability.’
Having operated in Spain since 2000, Continental Rail expects to launch a Portuguese operation from the third quarter of this year, becoming the third player in the market alongside Takargo and Medway. CR’s local subsidiary was formally established in October 2020, and has already been granted a safety certificate by local regulator IMT. The company intends to focus on intermodal flows to and from logistics hubs in Spain, with trains expected to use all three active border crossings to move containers primarily from the ports of Sines and Leixões.
CFL Cargo Deutschland has leased two Siemens Mobility Vectron locomotives and a Smartron from Paribus Group’s Northrail, and LEG Leipziger Eisenbahnverkehrgesellschaft has leased a Smartron to replace an older Class 185 locomotive. Northrail will expand its Smartron lease fleet to 16 locomotives with the arrival in April of two more locomotives ordered on behalf of RIVE Private Investment under a framework agreement for up to 25.
Aurizon completed the A$205m sale of its Acacia Ridge Terminal south of Brisbane to Pacific National on March 26. This completes Aurizon’s three-stage exit from its loss-making Intermodal business, which began with the closure of Interstate intermodal operations outside Queensland in December 2017. The A$7·3 sale of the Queensland Intermodal business to Linfox was completed in January 2019.
Green Cargo has launched a digital booking system to make it easier and faster for customers to book transport, fill in consignment notes and track their shipments. There are API services for integration with a customer’s own systems, and the ability to connect to a web interface. Green Cargo Connect initially covers domestic wagonload and intermodal services, with more functions to be added this year. ‘We are extremely pleased to now offer our customers faster service, the opportunity to book around the clock and monitor the status of their freight transport via their computer or mobile devices’, said Shane Harrington, Head of Customer Service.
Maritime Transport has secured a two-year contract to provide container operator AP Moller–Maersk with committed space for the movement of at least 25 000 containers/year by rail in the UK. Maersk will utilise four of Maritime’s intermodal services daily, including two from the Port of Felixstowe to Maritime’s Wakefield and East Midlands Gateway terminals, and two from DP World London Gateway to Wakefield and Maritime’s terminal at Trafford Park.
