WSP and Jacobs have been appointed to produce designs for the rebuilding of the two train ferry terminals as part of New Zealand’s NZ$1·45bn Interisland Resilient Connection Programme. Two diesel-battery hybrid train ferries are scheduled to enter service in 2025 and 2026.
Norfolk Southern has announced starting bonuses of up to $5 000 for conductor trainees in priority locations, and $2 500 elsewhere. It said that once training is completed, its conductors are guaranteed minimum annual pay of $52 000, increasing to $63 500 over four years, with most earning ‘far more’. There are opportunities to become drivers, with minimum annual pay of $94 000.
Green Cargo has introduced direct services from the port of Trelleborg to Nässjö and Årsta in southern Stockholm, and from the APM and Arken terminals at the port of Göteborg to Rosersberg in northern Stockholm.
Alpha Trains has signed a framework agreement with Siemens Mobility for the purchase of additional Vectron locomotives, including the leasing company’s first Vectron AC and Dual Mode locomotives. The different country configurations will permit use in 18 European countries. ‘This will enable us to expand our footprint in eastern and northern Europe while targeting a new market segment in Germany with the environmentally friendly Vectron Dual Mode’, said Fernando Pérez, Managing Director of the Locomotives Division, on February 28 .
Brookhaven Rail Terminal in New York reports that it handled 2 908 wagons in 2021, with cargo including building supplies, flour and biofuel. This almost matches the 2 938 wagons it handled in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Glass food and drink packaging manufacturer Verallia has tested rail transport between its plants in Verona, Mantua and Vicenza and the railway terminal at Borgo San Dalmazzo in Piedmont. The company plans to transport sand to its plants and 68 000 pallets of finished products per year from its plants to destinations in Piemonte on services run by Metrocargo Italia.
MSC now offers customers rail freight transport between Ethiopia and Djibouti, connecting with worldwide shipping services. ‘We have been enthusiastically exploring our options for the past few years, and are excited to offer this intermodal solution that we believe will add value to MSC’s service’, said Soji Thomas Korah, General Manager of MSC Ethiopia. ‘Our new intermodal services will be vital for coffee and garment export shipments.’