Aviation fuel provider A Flygbränslehantering and Green Cargo have renewed for a further five years their 15-year agreement covering the movement of jet fuel from the port of Gävle to the Brista unloading station near Stockholm’s Arlanda airport. However, Green Cargo says the long-term future of the traffic is ‘uncertain’, given the fall in civil aviation use during the coronavirus pandemic. This resulted in a significant reduction in the number of fuel trains operated under the agreement.
UK-based WH Davis has signed a contract to supply 30 JNA box wagons in Q2 2022. Based on the MegaBox design, these will have a capacity of 60 m3 with a gross weight of 101∙6 tonnes. The unnamed customer is reported to be new to rail.
HS2 Ltd and contractor SCS JV have opened a rail-served logistics hub at Willesden in northwest London. This will be used as a base to remove up to 5∙6 million tonnes of spoil created during the excavation of tunnels at the London end of the high speed line, and to support the delivery of precast concrete tunnel lining segments. When the 12 ha terminal is fully operational, it will be served by up to eight trains per day, removing up to 1 million lorry journeys from local roads, HS2 Ltd says.
PJSC Research and United Wagon Co have delivered the first six-axle articulated tank wagons for light refined products to Texol Group in Kazakhstan. The type 15-629 wagon is a new design aimed at enabling full carloads of lightweight refined products to be shipped regardless of local infrastructure constraints. The total volume of the two chambers of the tank wagon is 160 m³, and its load capacity is 108 tonnes.
The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development has granted a €25m loan under its Green Cities programme to support the construction of the first inland dry port in Egypt, at 6th October City, west of Cairo. The rail-served facility is being developed by the October Dry Port Co, a special purpose vehicle established by a consortium of El Sewedy Electric, Schenker Egypt and SLP Logistics.
Australian operator Aurizon has opened a second round of 2021 Community Giving Fund requests. Community groups and charities that are undertaking projects contributing to Community Safety, Health & Wellbeing, Education or the Environment, and which are located near to Aurizon’s routes in Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia, are invited to apply for cash grants of up to A$20 000. ‘With over 80% of our employees living in regional areas, it is so important that we contribute to the communities in which our employees live and work. It is through our Community Giving Fund that we can give back by providing these cash grants to eligible community organisations’, commented Aurizon CEO Andrew Harding.
JR Freight has opened a local office in Bangkok to explore opportunities in the Thai rail market. This is the first such base the company has set up outside Japan.
Building materials company Cemex has undertaken a series of infrastructure enhancements at three of its UK terminals: Attercliffe, Small Heath and Bletchley. The track renewals and extensions were delivered by contractor MLP Railway Maintenance Ltd. At Bletchley, 152 m of new track with a revised alignment was laid to reduce drainage issues and increase the turning circle for delivery vehicles. A further 330 m of track was laid at Cemex’s new terminal at Small Heath, while at Attercliffe life-expired track has been replaced with 196 m of rails embedded in concrete to enable road vehicles to use the same loading facility in the daytime that trains use at night.