Fruits banned from entering China via port of Manzhouli
Fruits may no longer be shipped into China via the border of Manzhouli, as the city has announced a ban on imported fruits from Sunday 16 January. Manzhouli, in North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region,...Read more
Rail freight China – North Korea closed again after 8-day revival
After a short, eight-day period of revival, railway trade between China and North Korea is once again suspended. Just as before, the coronavirus is to blame, as a new confirmed case appeared in the Dandong...Read more
Chinese port of Ningbo fully operational again
China has fully reopened a major container terminal in Ningbo, one of the world’s busiest ports, after it was closed two weeks ago due to an employee’s corona infection. However, the impact is still felt...Read moreThe Netherlands sees drop in rail freight in 2020
In the Netherlands, 40 million tons of goods were transported by rail last year. This is 6.2 per cent less than in 2019. This decrease was entirely due to the decrease in port export and...Read more
METRANS more than doubles New Silk Road traffic in 2020
In 2020, METRANS has increased the number of container trains travelling between Europe and China by 114 percent. This is despite the pandemic. According to the HHLA subsidiary, the coronavirus pandemic and resulting capacity bottlenecks...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
‘EU Year of Rail should be extended in face of COVID-19’
CER, EIM and UNIFE – among the main rail associations in Brussels – have asked for an extension of the European Year of Rail, as the pandemic hinders the full potential it could have in...Read more
DB Cargo’s loss more than doubled in 2020
Rail freight operator DB Cargo was hit hard by the corona crisis in 2020. The company saw its losses more than double. With an increase of 136 per cent, the figures went down to minus...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
Chinese New Year and the pandemic, something to worry about?
One year ago, China witnessed the outbreak of the coronavirus, just days before Chinese New Year, the biggest festival of the year. Trains were cancelled and trucks stopped moving; the impact of the rail freight...Read more
Penalties for noisy wagons in Germany postponed with one year
Germany will not penalise noisy railway undertakings for another year. The ban on loud freight wagons on the German rail network will apply from 17 December. However, due to the corona period the transition to...Read more
EU: additional measures for fast rail freight at borders
The European Commission has taken additional measures to improve the rapid flow of goods by rail now that most Member States are in full or partial lockdown. This is to ensure that the trains are...Read more