LKAB Malmtrafik has exercised an SKr70m option to extend Railcare‘s contract to operate iron ore trains from Svappavaara to Kiruna and Gällivare until December 31 2024. ’The early announcement that the option will be exercised provides good foresight in the planning of resources’, said Railcare Group CEO Mattias Remahl. ‘In the new contract, we will also equip all locomotives with central coupling, which gives us the opportunity to haul heavier loads.’
Nigeria’s Minister of Transportation Sa’idu Alkali launched freight services on the 157 km Lagos – Ibadan standard gauge railway on September 12, two years after the inauguration of the line. Nigerian Railway Corp said there would be three 30-wagon container trains per day from the Apapa port complex in Lagos, and there is capacity for four.
From October 2 Norfolk Southern will include East Coast Railway’s Ft Pierce and Ft Lauderdale intermodal terminals in its network, complementing its services to Titusville and Miami.
DB Cargo UK operated a 36 wagon train carrying 2 000 tonnes of metal into the port of Sunderland on September 15, said to be the longest train in the port’s history at 585 m. A rail connection to the port was reinstated in 2014. ‘Since the return of rail cargo to the port, we have worked tirelessly to promote our multimodal capabilities and demonstrate the sustainable efficiencies in supply chains that working with the port can provide’, said Port of Sunderland director Matthew Hunt.
Uruguay’s national freight operator SELF has called tenders for the supply and maintenance of a locomotive with an 18 tonne axle load and ETCS onboard equipment.
Aurizon has continued its ramp-up of Australian interstate container services with the launch on September 27 of a Melbourne - Sydney - Brisbane service. Team Global Express is the anchor customer for the weekly return service, which caters for freight including local manufactured goods and produce and import and export traffic. Aurizon has taken a long-term lease at the Glenlee Terminal in Sydney.
Wagon leasing company European Rail Rent has entered into a long-term partnership with Intermodal Telematics covering the deployment of equipment including CLT20-Ex solar-powered communication and location terminals and WT22-Ex temperature sensors.
On September 28 Spanish infrastucture manager ADIF awarded Enyse a €18·5m contract to enhance signalling to support bidirectional running on the 13·7 km Herrera de la Mancha – Manzanares section of the 1 668 mm gauge main line from Madrid to Córdoba, which will form part of the ‘Rail Motorway’ corridor between Andalucía, Alcázar de San Juan, Madrid and Zaragoza.
Deutsche Bahn has decided to sell its DB Schenker freight forwarding subsidiary as a complete business rather than split it into smaller units, German logistics newspaper DVZ reports. There is no specific timetable and it is not expected to be a short-term project. The proceeds from the sale would be used within DB’s rail business.
On September 3 UK operator Freightliner began running two overnight services from Daventry to Grangemouth seven days a week under a five-year contract awarded by The Malcolm Group. Freightliner’s Omnia tool provides the customer with real-time data including running times, live tracking of containers and carbon emissions.