News from the world rail freight market.
RS Lease has ordered two 6·6 MW Transmontana locomotives from Softronic for delivery in April and May 2026. The agreement also includes maintenance of the 160 km/h six-axle locomotives which will be approved for Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Croatia. ‘For the first time we are expanding our portfolio of electric locomotives with a locomotive from a manufacturer other than Siemens’, said RS Lease. ‘We believe that the inclusion of Transmontana locomotives will bring even greater variability and flexibility to the rental offer for our customers across Europe.’
ÖBB Rail Cargo Group has signed a 10-year contract for close co-operation with the Sona terminal near Verona, securing capacity at the ‘fast-growing logistics hub’ at an early stage. The terminal currently has RCG TransFER connections to Wien, Hannover and Wuppertal, and a significant expansion of capacity at the site is planned by 2028.
The SMART Transportation Division union says it ‘has every intention to oppose this merger’ when the proposed combination of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern comes before the Surface Transportation Board for approval. Expressing concerns about the impact on ‘rail workers, safety, service quality and the long-term health of the freight rail industry’, the union cited differences in corporate culture and labour practices which it sees as more favourable at Norfolk Southern than UP. It said UP had ‘an alarming willingness’ to lease yards and track to non-unionised railways.
KiwiRail has announced that much of the 79 km line between Invercargill and Ohai will be mothballed, after Bathurst Coal advised that Takitimu Mine will close in FY2027. Coal transport will cease by mid-late 2026. ‘The Ohai Line is in a poor state and most of it is already closed to trains’, KiwiRail Chief Infrastructure Officer Siva Sivapakkiam said on August 1. Significant damage was caused by extreme weather in September 2023, since when coal has been transported by road to Invercargill. The line requires more than NZ$1m of repairs and ‘tens of millions of dollars’ of upgrades, and with the mine is closing ‘this spending cannot be justified’. The first 9 km serving Alliance Group’s meat works at Lorneville is not impacted.
Botswana’s Ministry of Transport & Infrastructure hosted a joint ministerial committee meeting on June 6 for the Mosetse – Kazungula – Livingstone Railway Link project to develop a 420 km connection between the rail networks of Botswana and Zambia via the Kazungula Bridge, which has provision to carry rail as well as road traffic. Botswana Railways said ‘while still at the feasibility stage, this project promises to enhance trade, facilitate easier movement of goods and people, and create new economic avenues for communities in southern Africa’.
ADIF has awarded AZVI (70%) and Ispalvia (30%) a €12·1m contract to lengthen the passing loop at Lezama on the line from Miranda de Ebro to Bilbao as part of the improvements to rail access to the port of Bilbao.
Islamic Republic of Iran Railways has granted MAPNA Multimodal Transport a license to provide international rail freight forwarding services.
The Transport Workers Union of America which represents Norfolk Southern employees says it ‘strongly opposes’ the planned merger with Union Pacific. ‘There is no world where Union Pacific should be controlling a coast-to-coast rail network’, said TWU International President John Samuelsen on July 29. ‘A supersized Union Pacific would be catastrophic for TWU rail workers, shippers and the safety of millions of Americans who live and work near freight rail lines.’ TWU Rail Division Director John Feltz said UP ‘cut railroad jobs even as other freight railroads ramped up hiring after the pandemic. They are not to be trusted by railroad workers nationwide and the TWU will fight any attempt to ram through a merger that Wall Street might like but is bad for railroad workers and the safety of everyone.’
Pakistan’s National Logistics Corp and Kyrgyzstan’s national railway KTJ have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate to promote transport and transit trade and jointly develop international road and rail containerised freight services. Plans include the construction of terminals, warehouses and multimodal logistics hubs.
Todd Nuelle has been appointed Chief Commercial Officer of Anacostia Rail Holdings, succeeding Eric Jakubowski who is retiring. Nuelle joins from Canadian National Railway, where he was Senior Director of Supply Chain Operations managing the Great Lakes business unit.
The Kedentransservice subsidiary of national railway KTZ has begun construction of the 64bn tenge Tobyl logistics complex at Kostanai with the backing of the Industrial Development Fund of Kazakhstan. Completion is planned for 2027.
The supervisory board of Hamburger Hafen & Logistik has appointed Jeroen Eijsink as CEO with effect from October 1. He will succeed Angela Titzrath, who will leave the company after nine years. The appointment is initially for a term of three years.