CRRC Dalian has supplied two 1 067 mm gauge 1 715 kW CKD8F diesel locomotives to South African mining company Palabora Copper, in the first contract negotiated and completed by its Dalian South Africa subsidiary.
Nurminen Logistics is to organise a combined rail, road and sea service from Helsinki to India via the western leg of the International North-South Transport Corridor through Russia and Iran. The block train for a Swedish customer is to leave Helsinki in mid-June, with a transit time to the Nhava Sheva container port of approximately 25 days which Nurminen Logistics said would be twice as fast as the maritime route via the Suez Canal.
ÖBB Rail Cargo Group has begun transporting Lamborghini URUS car bodies from the Volkswagen factory in Zwickau, Germany, to Modena in Italy. The services replaced road transport, and have a transit time of 48 h.
German operator SWEG has awarded Alstom an eight-year framework contract to provide and maintain locomotives from its rental pool. The agreement covers an initial four locos, later increasing to six. SWEG CEO Tobias Harms said the deal would modernise the operator’s fleet and help it to develop wagonload traffic.
On June 3 United Wagon Co signed agreements for the supply of 6 600 wagons worth more than 20bn roubles to MKH EuroChem, RB Group, Akron, Uralkali and State Transport Leasing Co.
Lithuania’s LTG Cargo has awarded Ab Ovo a €6·4m extendable five-year contract to implement an integrated resource planning system based on Dassault Systémes’ Delmia Quintiq software platform. ‘The activities of a freight carrier are especially dynamic, so the companies which are able to quickly respond to changing situations and offer the best services to customers win the competitive struggle’, said LTG Cargo CEO Egidijus Lazauskas.
Russia’s State Transport Leasing Co has awarded Barnaul Wagon Building Plant a 1·2bn rouble contract to supply 300 flat wagons, and has called two tenders for a further 750 wagons.
The American Short Line & Regional Railroad Association has welcomed the introduction of the proposed Surface Transportation Investment Act. ‘The bill provides multiple excellent competitive funding and financing opportunities for short line freight railroads and our public partners through improvements’, said ASLRRA President Chuck Baker. ’While the bill does address quite a few regulations and creates some additional regulatory oversight, overall it does so in a balanced and reasonable fashion.’
All DB Cargo UK trains delivering construction materials between Tarmac’s Mountsorrel site in Leicestershire and its asphalt plant in the centre of Birmingham are to be fuelled using 100% renewable hydro-treated vegetable oil. ‘Rail freight is already a much greener alternative to road haulage, so to reduce our carbon footprint even further will, I hope, make businesses re-evaluate their own transport strategies’, said DB Cargo UK’s Head of Sales Roger Neary.
United Wagon Co is to supply chemical company Shchekinoazot’s Azot transport business with 132 methanol tank wagons by Q3 this year. The Type 15-6880 wagons will have a 25 tonne axleload and capacity of 73 tonnes or 88 m3, with protective covers to protect the tank fittings and load from unauthorised access.
GB Railfreight has operated the first loaded freight service from Stanton Gate since 2009, transporting more than of 1 400 tonnes of fragmented steel to Immingham Dock for Ward. Trials had been run to prove the ability to transport bulk loads following significant infrastructure work at the former steel works site near Nottingham, which has been acquired by Verdant Regeneration for development as a logistics hub.
The European Commission has approved under EU state aid rules an €82m scheme to provide grants to partially cover infrastructure and other external costs of wagonload freight operators in Hungary. The Commission found that the scheme which runs until December 31 2025 would incentivise the use of rail in line with the EU policy objectives.
Norfolk Southern has named Assistant Vice-President Safety & Environmental Jason Morris as Vice-President, Labor Relations with effect from October 1, succeeding Scott Weaver who is retiring after 32 years.
ÖBB Rail Cargo Group’s TransFER service linking Curtici near Arad in western Romania with Istanbul in Turkey in 72 h has been increased to two round trips per week from June 2.
