File: Greening Freight Package France’s rail freight sector has voiced strong opposition to the European Union’s move to introduce ‘mega’ lorries of more than 25 metres in length and weighing up to 60 tonnes.Read more
The Swiss SBB Group brought its finances back to the black in 2023 for the first time since 2019. Strong passenger transport performance led the Group’s recovery. Cargo performance was still in the red for...Read more
An incentive regarding the acquisition of rail rolling stock in Italy is on the verge of being cancelled, despite the funds being already allocated and having generated huge investments. “We lack certainty about the rules”,...Read more
File: Greening Freight Package With a marginal majority (300 votes against 295), the European Parliament has approved the legislative proposals of the Weights and Dimensions Directive (WDD) part of the Greening Freight Transport Package (GFTP). In practice, this means...Read more
The Russian government is considering giving priority to oil and gas on its railway network in its Far Eastern region. Earlier, Russian oil and gas companies reported regular refusals for transportation of their products from...Read more
file: greening freight packageThe European Parliament Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) published a Working Document compiling a bundle of recommendations to improve the Combined Transport Directive, part of the Greening Freight Package. According to the report, the...Read more
InterviewOn Friday 1 March, the Dutch state secretary for infrastructure addressed a wide range of rail freight policy issues in a letter to the lower house of parliament. While the letter presented some successes, not...Read more
FILE: GREENING FREIGHT PACKAGEThe European Parliament Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) has recently approved various amendments to the Capacity Management Directive, part of the Greening Freight Package. The main new aspects introduced are the creation of a...Read more
The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) unlocked one billion euros through its Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility (AFIF) to boost the deployment of alternative fuel supply infrastructure across the European Union. However, rail seems to be the...Read more
Last week’s introduction of the UK government’s Draft Rail Reform Bill could be the catalyst for a whole system approach. That’s the view of Logistics UK, the industry-wide business group representing members from rail, road,...Read more
Latvia has banned agricultural imports from Russia and Belarus. The Baltic country is the first EU country to go as far as to introduce a total ban on Russian agricultural products. The ban will last...Read more
In view of the Combined Transport Directive (CTD) amendment, the EU Commission proposed an alternative definition of combined transport services. In the legislators’ view, combined transport operations should include intermodal freight operations that carry out...Read more
The French government announced the cancellation of 10 billion euros that were supposed to be invested throughout the country in 2024. The infrastructure and transport sectors will see their budget decrease by over 341 million...Read more
Russian intermodal container operator PJSC TransContainer is included in the latest sanction package published by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The Russia-based company will no longer be able to conduct business with U.S. entities....Read more
While Polish farmers continue their protests against incoming Ukrainian goods, they do so more and more intensely. A recent spilling of 180 tonnes of Ukrainian grain from freight wagons marks a new low for the...Read more
Dublin gives an uneven impression of the health of Ireland’s railway network. Trams, busy commuter lines, freight and long-distance express trains all compete for space around the capital’s tracks. It’s not quite the same story...Read more
The Transport Committee of the European Parliament has relegated the much-desired Spanish rail line Ruta de la Plata to a lower priority in its roadmap. Portugal and local Spanish authorities lobbied for the renovation of...Read more
DB Cargo is attempting to improve its loss-making performance, and plans entail restructuring the company’s business. In doing so, Europe’s largest freight operator aims to outsource a large part of operations to other companies, some...Read more
The 32-page draft Rail Reform Bill very much escaped, rather than launched, on Tuesday, 20 February. On what editors would call “a busy news day”, the procedural legislative launch of a pre-legislative document was somewhat...Read more
In a significant move towards modernising Europe’s transportation infrastructure, the European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee has embraced the compromise text on the Revision of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) Guidelines. This milestone sets the...Read more
The parliament of Kazakhstan wants to reform its national rail operator Kazakh Railways (KTZ). The parliament filed a request to remove infrastructure management from the company’s competencies and to increase procedural and strategic transparency. The...Read more