DB Netze can all but comfort freight with construction agenda April
For the next three weeks there will be severe restrictions on the German part of the Rhine-Alpine corridor. Two sections will have limited capacity due to construction works, and this coincides with the already ongoing...Read more
Overlap construction works closes Dutch-German border all weekend
Rail freight traffic on the Rhine-Alpine corridor has faced significant disruptions over the weekend as construction works on the Dutch-German border faced delays. As a result, two vital border crossings between the Netherlands and Germany...Read more
Line closure Rhine-Alpine corridor: have we learned our lessons?
An accident on a vital railway line in Germany once again drew all eyes to the Rhine Alpine corridor, where the infamous Rastatt incident took place nearly three years ago. Is the European rail freight...Read more
Rail Freight Forward coalition implements Handbook
In its vision paper “30 by 2030” the Rail Freight Forward coalition (RFF) has committed to adopt and implement a Contingency Management Handbook. This Handbook outlines harmonised international contingency measures whenever major disruptions happen on...Read more
Hupac Group recovers Rastatt and low Rhine losses
Hupac Group witnessed an increase of traffic volumes by 21.4 per cent last year. The recovery of traffic losses due to the Rhine disruption in 2017, the Rastatt disaster and the acquisition of ERS Railways...Read more
Rastatt one-year anniversary: where are we now?
It is exactly one year ago that the disrupted railway line at Rastatt was reopened for train traffic. The three lobby organisations ERFA, NEE and UIRR take the opportunity to highlight the lessons learnt so...Read moreDigging for answers in Rastatt Tunnel
Nearly a year after a landslip at the now infamous Rastatt Tunnel paralysed European rail freight traffic, the soil at the site is investigated to analyse what went wrong. Joint venture (ARGE) Tunnel and Deutsche...Read more
Alternative language requirements train drivers proposed
The European Commission (EC) has proposed pilot projects to test alternative means of ensuring effective communication during railway operations. In case of a diversion eligible train drivers may not be present, resulting in the cancellation...Read more
German-French Rastatt-Haguenau line may be reopened
Eurodistrict PAMINA is investigating the feasibility of reopening the cross-border railway line between Rastatt in Germany and Haguenau in France. Although the railway line is envisaged for passenger services, the German authority is looking into...Read more
Rail freight volumes on Rhine-Alpine Corridor declined by 3.2%
Traffic volumes on the Rhine-Alpine rail freight corridor (RFC) decreased by 3.2 per cent in 2017, compared to the previous year. On the contrary, overall rail freight traffic in Europe increased, albeit slightly with two...Read moreEconomic damage of Rastatt incident more than 2 billion Euros
The Rastatt incident that paralysed rail freight traffic during a seven-week interruption of railway operations on the Karlsruhe-Basel line of the Rhine-Alphine Corridor has resulted in economic damage of more than two billion Euros for...Read moreNetherlands saw plunge in rail freight traffic 2017
The Netherlands witnessed a decline in overall freight traffic on its railway network last year. Rail freight volumes through the Port of Rotterdam dropped with nine per cent, while the tonnage of cargo moved to...Read more
Hupac goes Eurasian after strong response to Rastatt
The now-infamous Rastatt shutdown failed to stop Swiss intermodal operator Hupac increasing its rail shipments by over three per cent in 2017. This rail success is also set to be strengthened with a new Eurasian...Read more
TACs: ‘Era of charging based only on cost allocation is over’
Track Access Charges expert Justina Hudenko believes the era of charging based only on cost allocation is over. The Chair of LatRailNet, the allocation & charging subsidiary body of Latvian Railway, will be sharing her ideas...Read more
Rail freight 2017 & ahead – by ERFA’s Julia Lamb
To say it’s been a challenging year for the rail freight sector, not least in Europe, is an understatement. While the immediate effects of the Rastatt landslip in August were nothing short of an operational...Read more
DB Cargo boss reflects on an ‘eventful’ year
Raimund Stüer, head of Europe’s largest rail operator DB Cargo, believes the coming year will mean adapting to the changing needs of the logistics sector. In his end-of-year message to customers, he said the disruption...Read moreDB Netz CEO regrets Rastatt effects
The head of German rail network manager DB Netz has expressed his ‘regret’ for the knock-on problems caused to rail freight stakeholders by this summer’s Rastatt landslip incident. CEO Frank Sennhenn told a summit of...Read more
‘DB Netz must take full liability’ over Rastatt, says rail alliance
An alliance of influential European rail bodies have called on German rail infrastructure manager DB Netz to ‘take full liability’ over this summer’s Rastatt landslip incident, and stop blaming railway operators for ‘not being flexible’...Read moreEC transport leaders move to avoid a Rastatt repeat
The European Commission is laying down future contingency plans to avoid a repeat of the chaos caused to continental rail freight operations for nearly two months this summer as a result of the Rastatt landslip...Read more