News from the world rail freight market.
On August 14 work began to expand the City of Rochelle Intermodal Transload Center in Illinois to meet increasing demand, supported with a grant from the Illinois Competitive Freight programme. The facility was opened in 2020 by the City of Rochelle and the Greater Rochelle Economic Development Corp, and is served by BNSF and Union Pacific and the City of Rochelle Railroad. ‘The success and rapid growth of the RITC demonstrate how strategic infrastructure investments can unlock opportunities for both local businesses and global supply chains’, said City Manager Jeff Fiegenschuh.
ADIF has completed clearance surveys to assess the infrastructure works that would be required for the potential introduction of ‘rail motorway’ services from Azuqueca near Madrid via Valladolid and Burgos to the developing logistics hub at Jundiz in the western suburbs of Vitoria-Gasteiz.
Chicago rail-truck transload operator Transload Group has expressed ‘strong support’ for the proposed merger of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern. ‘For our customers, it means they’ll be able to move goods from one end of the country to the other on a single railroad, which translates to faster delivery and lower transportation costs’, said Transload President Chuck Marias. ‘We’ve witnessed first-hand the power of combining truck and rail through our partnership with Norfolk Southern – our Chicago transload facility saw a 62% surge in volume after NS invested in it.’
Kazakhstan’s KTZ and Turkey’s TCDD Taşimacilik have signed an agreement to develop traffic on the Middle Corridor, including an increase in transport volumes along the Baku – Tbilisi – Kars line, technology improvements and simplification of customs and administrative procedures to ensure faster clearance of goods at borders.
Commenting on Union Pacific’s proposed acquisition of Norfolk Southern, Rail Passengers Association President & CEO Jim Mathews said ‘America’s passengers and shippers have good reason to treat this news with scepticism. The past decade has seen Class I railroads steadily losing market share to trucking in pursuit of shareholder dividends. While that’s been good for Wall Street, it’s meant worse rail service for passengers and shippers in the rest of the country.’
Kazakstan‘s KTZ has signed an agreement for a three-year syndicated loan from Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and Deutsche Bank for up to SFr480m. This will be used to advance transit corridor projects, including the construction of the Mojynty – Karazhal line, modernisation of congested sections of the network and refinancing of KTZ’s existing obligations.
Iran and Turkmenistan have agreed to construct one standard and one broad gauge line to increase capacity through the Sarakhs border crossing.