News from the world rail freight market.
Construction of the Silkway Central Asia multifunctional dry port began on November 15 near Toshkent. The US$300m facility is being developed by a joint venture of Kazakh company PTC Holding and Uzbek national railway UTY as part of the agreements reached by the presidents of the two countries in December 2022. Container yards covering 172 000 m² are planned, alongside warehousing over 167 000 m², an industrial zone, and a trade and exhibition complex covering 18 700 m². The total area will be 159 ha, served by 28 km of railway. Completion of the initial set of facilities is envisaged by early 2027, and it is predicted that by 2035, up to 3 million tonnes of freight will pass through the port annually.
The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a French scheme that will reimburse the so-called T2 surcharge payable by rail freight companies for certain statutory employees. The scheme applies for 10 years from January 1 2025. Since January 1 2020, SNCF employees who leave the company but continue working in the rail sector can keep their pension rights, and their new employer must pay the employer’s share of the T2 contribution. The Commission found that the scheme contributes to the development of rail freight sector as it liberates the companies active in that industry of a legacy cost, while keeping workers within the rail freight sector.
On November 19 the American Short Line & Regional Railroad Association filed a notice of intent to participate in the Surface Transportation Board’s review of the proposed merger of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern. ASLRRA said it would focus on ensuring the transaction adequately addresses any impact on smaller railways and their customers, and that the deal supports shortline wagonload traffic growth and enhanced Class I/shortline interchange efficiencies, as well as frequent and reliable services and competition across the overall network.
Watson Farley & Williams advised InfraVia Capital Partners company Nexrail on the purchase agreement and green loan financing of its order of up to 200 Stadler EURO9000 battery-electric locomotives. Nexrail raised a new €204m green capex facility to finance the locomotives while amending and extending its existing €322m bank facilities.
The Brotherhood of Railway Carmen and Union Pacific have reached an agreement that provides a commitment of job security for hundreds of union employees after the proposed merger with Norfolk Southern. All BRC members at both Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern at the time of the merger will have job security for life, subject to the usual requirements for continued employment. ‘Union Pacific leadership did the right thing in taking this important first step for our members’, said BRC general president Don Grissom. UP has similar agreements with the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail & Transportation workers – Transportation Division and the National Conference of Firemen & Oilers.
KiwiRail has launched a carbon calculator to meet increasing demand from customers wanting to compare carbon emissions from rail, road and air. It allows users to input information about rail shipments, and then estimates the emissions created by that journey and compares it to equivalent journeys by road or air. The total emissions calculation also includes the Interislander ferry segment when rail freight crosses the Cook Strait. ‘Increasingly, customers want more information to support their transport decisions, and tools for estimating and comparing carbon emissions are now common features of transport providers worldwide’, says KiwiRail Executive Vanessa Oakley.
BNSF President & CEO Katie Farmer has welcomed a commitment by Union Pacific as part of its proposed merger with Norfolk Southern to protect more than 300 intermodal connections. ‘I’m sure the nation’s rail customers are relieved that UP is committing to keep all current intermodal lanes open if their merger with NS is approved’, Farmer said on November 12. ‘UP highlighted in prior rail industry mergers that the new merged railroad usually raises rates on competing interchange partners to the point of making those lanes economically uncompetitive.’
KTZ Express and YXE Trading Service Group agreed a Memorandum on Strategic Deepening of Cooperation at the 2nd international cooperation forum on China – Europe freight held in Xi’an on November 18. The agreement is aimed at developing joint logistics services, enhancing the efficiency of the China – Europe route, and promoting the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route.