Polish rail freight volumes drop by 3,2% in 2023
Rail freight volumes in Poland have decreased by 3,2 per cent in 2023. According to the Polish national statistics agency, total volumes reached approximately 230 million tonnes. The rail market suffers from slowed down European...Read more
Recovery and stagnation: German rail survey reveals mixed results
The German rail sector fully recovered from the pandemic in 2022. According to an annual German market survey, German rail freight exceeded its pre-pandemic performance levels by 10 per cent. However, performance also stagnated in...Read more
Cargo critical for CPK’s investment return and Polish import volumes
report The Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK) infrastructure project: A huge airport infrastructure investment with multimodal components is expected to transform logistics apart from passenger services, not only in Poland but also in Europe. Can passenger and...Read more
Switzerland to partly finance new rail terminal in Milan
The Swiss Federal Office of Transport (FOT) will allocate over 67 million euros for the construction of a rail terminal east of Milan, in northern Italy. The new transshipment terminal will be built on a...Read more
The Spanish northwest wants to be on Atlantic TEN-T Corridor
The Spanish regions Galicia, Asturias, and Castilla y Leon are demanding to be involved in the Atlantic Corridor of the TEN-T network. The three regions prepared an investment plan, amounting to 7,9 billion euros, to...Read more
Russia resumes rail freight services to North Korea after two years
Rail freight services between Russia and North Korea have been reinstated for the first time since 2020, when they were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first train left Russia and will reach North...Read more
Italy reimburses rail freight companies for losses due to COVID-19
After the approval of recovery funds by the European Commission in June, the Italian government has implemented a scheme to compensate rail freight companies for the losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The decree was...Read more
Santomarco Tunnel: more controversies pause project for Scan-Med Corridor
The project made by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (Group FS) for the expansion of the Santomarco Tunnel, in Southern Italy, recently hit a controversial stop. Last week, in a meeting held in Paola, attended among others...Read more
Swiss railway companies propose four measures to decongest the Rhine-Alpine Corridor
Swiss railway companies presented four measures “to safeguard capacity and stabilise operations on the railway line on the left bank of the Rhine, via France”. The companies involved are VAP, BLS Cargo AG, Hupac Group,...Read more
Rail freight service between China and North Korea to resume
North Korean authorities proposed the resumption of rail freight traffic with China to cope with a significant shortage of supplies. The service, which was stopped due to the pandemic, connects the Chinese city of Dandong,...Read more
Corona concerns Ningbo are increasing, empty depots are closed
Concerns are mounting that a corona outbreak in the Chinese port city of Ningbo could lead to new logistics congestion. Maersk noted in an update that three out of five Ningbo’s container terminals border the...Read more
Omikron just another hit to China-Europe supply chain
The rapidly spreading Omikron mutation of the coronavirus could trigger a boom in sick staff. The international trade union International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) is already speaking of an ‘Omikron crew crunch’ for the shipping...Read more
Port of Trieste paralysed by protesters against coronapas
The port of Trieste has been paralysed by protesters against the introduction of a corona ticket at work, according to local media. Hundreds of strikers have gathered in front of the port area’s entrance, and...Read more
Not all infrastructure managers compensated for low railway charges
Many countries in Europe have enabled access to rail at a reduced or even nullified rate in order to support railways during the pandemic. This is great news for the railway undertakings, but not all...Read more
Rail continues to lose 30 million euros per week due to pandemic
The pandemic and the consequent lockdowns continue to impact heavily on rail freight. Compared to 2019 figures, revenues from rail freight have gone down from -3 per cent in December 2020 to 10 per cent...Read more
Swissterminal offers ‘virus-free containers’
The Swiss terminal operator Swissterminal is offering customers a new container disinfection service, which makes for what it calls ‘virus-free containers’. The introduction of this solution is in direct response to the increased need for...Read more
Belgium reduces track access charges until end of June 2021
The Belgian government has announced to financially support the rail freight industry. Until 30 June, a reduced tariff applies for freight trains, and cancellation and reservation costs are waived. The support scheme applies from 1...Read more
Who profits from the soaring container prices?
“In all my years working in this industry, I have never seen anything this crazy”, says Osmo Lahtinen, the founder of the Finnish container leasing company OVL. The ‘crazy’ refers to the different situations in...Read more
Freight fears as Channel ports closure chaos descends on UK
Pictures of huge queues of trucks heading for the Channel ports of Dover and Folkestone have been all over he UK news all weekend. Now, with countries all over Europe closing their borders to UK...Read more