Future for UK timber trains in Scotland
There are fresh calls for a more sustainable approach to the timber industry, and a new look at bringing back rail as the prime mover. However, even supporters say there are considerable commercial challenges. Timber trains...Read more
China and Russia test delivery of seafood by rail
China and Russia have tested the interstate rail transportation of seafood. The first batch of frozen fish was delivered from the Russian port of Zarubino to the Chinese city of Hunchun on 2 August. The trial...Read more
ERA certifies first freight wagons for operations across Europe
The European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) has issued the first vehicle authorisation for thirty freight wagons to be operated across Europe. The historic document was delivered three weeks after ERA becoming the European authorising...Read more
Rail freight linking Ethiopia and Djibouti port
A new rail network between Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, and Djibouti port started in January, an infrastructure linking the country with the Indian Ocean. This railway track is 750 kilometres long and is the first completely...Read more
DB Cargo fleet will be ‘quiet’ by 2020
The entire freight car fleet of Germany’s DB Cargo will quite literally be the ‘smartest’ in the land by 2020 with cutting-edge telematics and sensors. A multi-million Euros investment will see some 70,000 wagons be digitised...Read more
China-Italy sauce train turns the tables
If rail freight is all about diversity, then the current cargo load of tomato sauce on its way from China to Naples is surely the best gastronomic twist yet on the New Silk Road. A new...Read more
Lineas and EWS join forces to bust the wood bugs
A specialist ‘bug-busting’ treatment is ensuring that Lineas Intermodal’s wood-laden trains bound for China are arriving clean and customer-ready. The Belgian rail freight operator has joined forces with eco-friendly pest control specialists EWS Group to open...Read more
P&O freight berth boosts Tilbury’s rail plans
The overhaul of rail freight operations at the Port of Tilbury, London’s main trading port, has been boosted further with a planned new purpose-built river freight berth. P&O Ferries has reached an agreement with the port’s...Read more
Silk Road Middle Corridor welcomes aboard Turkish Rail
The growing potential of the Trans-Caspian Silk Road rail route – dubbed the ‘Middle Corridor’ – has taken another stride with the addition of Turkish State Railways to its membership. Until now a relatively underused strand...Read more
UK’s new iPort rail hub receives first train
Britain’s newest inland rail freight hub, the 337-acre iPort Rail in north east England, has welcomed its first train. With storage capacity for 1,500 TEUs and a reach stacker operation with a 115-tonne front axle load,...Read more
London show celebrates retro ‘Railfreight’ brand
London is hosting a novel new exhibition that celebrates the striking branding created for the former British Rail’s Railfreight division in the 1980s. Railfreight was responsible for all of the UK’s freight network transports back in...Read more
How NUNNER stepped out on the New Silk Road
In just a few days’ time, Amsterdam will join the growing number of European locations with a direct rail freight service to China. It will be the latest chapter in the successful story of NUNNER...Read more
Rail freight terminal decision ‘precedent’ for council support
Approval for a rail freight terminal in north London has been welcomed by freight lobbyists. The Campaign for Better Transport (CBRT) says new adjacent housing needs rail to bring in the necessary building materials. The CBRT...Read more
EU invests in key Eastern Europe rail projects
Rail freight will be the beneficiary of nearly two billion Euros of funding into strategic rail links in Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. The first project will see the European Union’s Cohesion Fund provide 1.3 billion Euros...Read more
Danger for drivers behind new USA-Mexico line upgrade
The occupational dangers faced by Mexican train drivers is partly behind Kansas City Southern’s (KSC) rail upgrade between Monterrey and Matamoros in Mexico, close to the US border in Texas. The distance between the two points...Read more
Award plaudits for freight-friendly Gotthard project
Visionaries who designed the Gotthard Base Tunnel – the world’s longest rail tunnel – to shift freight to rail on a mass scale have received the 2018 European Railway Award. Built over 17 years and costing...Read more
ERFA welcomes French rail freight sidings grant
The European Commission’s 60 million Euros state aid grant for new rail freight sidings in France has been hailed as an example of modal shift support for governments to follow. Lobbying body the European Rail Freight...Read more
All change at the top for SBB Cargo and Hupac
Sven Flore has been named as the new CEO of SBB Cargo International, replacing Michail Stahlhut, who has taken over as the head of Hupac Intermodal. Flore, 54, who was most recently working as a rail...Read more
Gothenburg’s new intermodal terminal officially open
The Port of Gothenburg’s new intermodal terminal has had its official opening, confirming the Swedish port’s status as a world-leading rail, road and sea hub. Covering 65,000 square metres, the Arken Combi Terminal provides Gothenburg with...Read more