Russia increases timber transport subsidies after plummeting year
The timber transport market in Russia faced its most challenging times in 2022, according to Vladimir Putin’s words. The Russian president decided to subsidise the industry with 500 million rubles (roughly 6,3 million euros) in...Read more
UK Euroforest puts timber on trains and backs rail freight
Trees are not just for Christmas, and neither are timber trains. Euroforest, the UK’s largest independent provider of timber harvesting and marketing services, has entered into a long-term modal shift, facilitating the year-round transport of...Read more
Raw timber transport in Finland flourishes despite challenges
VR Transpoint, the logistics branch of Finnish VR Group, saw its timber transport business hitting sky-high numbers in August. The company transported 1,2 million cubic metres of raw wood, marking an all-time record. A new...Read more
Welsh timber working between Aberystwyth and Chirk made permanent
Welsh timber is back on Welsh railways, and this time its here permanently. Following a successful trial in April, Colas Rail has agreed a permanent contract to move raw timber logs from the coastal town...Read more
Surprise timber trial takes 800 tonnes off Mid-Wales roads
It has been a while since the seaside university town of Aberystwyth in Mid-Wales has seen a regular freight service. That may be about to change. A surprise timber train departed on Saturday evening from...Read more
Seeing the wood for the trees
Another UK timber trial project has seen a flow return to rail freight. A sawmill in Abergavenny in Wales has received its first load of rail-transported timber since 2004. The rebirth of the load is down...Read more
Nine trains per day to bring wood to Finnish bio-product plant
In Finland, a new concept in the transport of raw timber was born. VR Transpoint will now take care of the transport and loading of raw wood for the bio-product plant to be built in...Read more
Further calls for Scotland-England timber traffic
UK timber extraction by rail lags behind European practice, but campaigners propose changes that would help redress the balance. Major reserves on the border between England and Scotland are maturing, and environmental and legal considerations...Read more
Timber stakes a new claim on Scottish rails
The concerted return of timber by rail in Scotland has taken further root. Approval has been granted from a local authority to establish a new terminal in the north of the country. The modest facility...Read more
Nurminen puts major exporter on Eurasian tracks
An export train full of sawn timber departed from Kotka, Finland, towards Chongqing, China, last week. Nurminen Logistics set up the train for Versowood, the largest Finnish producer and exporter of sawn timber. The transiting...Read more
Scotland’s next phase of timber by rail
After successful trials last year involving moving timber trains in Scotland for the first time in over a decade, a new scheme is at the planning stage for similar operations next year. The new proposals...Read more
500,000 tonnes of timber growth for UK rail freight
A rail freight project which could move over 500,000 tonnes of timber out of Rannoch Forest in the Scottish Highlands has taken a major step forward. A new Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between...Read more
Message from Scotland: a smaller passenger, but bigger freight network
The post-pandemic opportunity for freight has been recognised by Alex Hynes, the managing director of Scotland’s Railway, branded as ScotRail. Hynes was addressing the Scottish Conference of the industry’s representative body, Rail Freight Group (RFG),...Read more
UK timber trials prepare the way for fresh freight flows
The success of timber train trials in the north of Scotland has raised hopes for more new freight services across the UK. Industry and lobby groups are increasingly aware that freight must play a bigger...Read more
Timber triumphantly returns to Scottish railways after eleven-year break
Trails have successfully begun to move timber by rail in Scotland for the first time in over a decade. The southbound flow originates at Georgemas Junction, and has potential to breathe new life into Scotland’s...Read more
GBRf pitches for Scottish business
The head of a leading rail freight operator in Britain has made its case for more business in Scotland, which would grow the overall market and reduce rural road miles. John Smith, the founder and chief...Read more