Fresh round of strikes in the UK affects freight
STRIKESTwo UK trades unions have called a fresh round of strikes for later this month. There has been a failure to find any resolution to the wide-ranging disputes over pay and conditions. The Rail, Maritime...Read more
Surprise political casualty as new British rail strike announced
The state of industrial dispute that currently grips the British rail network has claimed a high-profile political casualty. Surprisingly – shockingly for some – the socialist opposition Labour Party sacked their shadow transport secretary Sam...Read more
British weather cools down but strike climate heats up again
Britain faces a fresh wave of strikes across the rail network, starting this Wednesday with an all-out stoppage by the biggest union in the sector, the RMT (Rail, Maritime and Transport). Then, just when you...Read more
Network Rail sets up hot weather resilience task force after sweltering heatwave
Following this week’s unprecedented heatwave, Network Rail is gearing up its efforts to make the UK network more resilient by launching a special task force for hot weather. “We’ve got to pull out all the...Read more
Britain faces decades of climate disruption says minister in the hot seat
This week’s heatwave has put pressure on UK infrastructure like never before. The unprecedented closure of the East Coast Main Line, in the face of temperatures more akin to Spain than Stevenage, was the headline...Read more
One UK dispute solved – eight more break out
A long-standing dispute in Scotland, between the publicly owned ScotRail and the trades union ASLEF, which represents drivers, has been resolved. On the same day, however, eight more operators – all in England – fell...Read more
What does the East Coast digitisation mean for UK freight
The announcement that the East Coast Main Line will benefit from a significant digital upgrading has caught the imagination of the rail industry at large. There is a genuine belief that the twenty-first-century signalling system...Read more
G&W terminal in Manchester goes digital, efficiency gains next day
VIDEO INTERVIEWOn Monday 13 June, the G&W terminal in Manchester went live with the Tideworks terminal operating systems. Within two days, trucking lead times had already been slashed with more than 60 per cent. This is...Read more
Strike Day Two: British ports to take the first hit
UK transport secretary Grant Shapps is adamant that the strike on the railways of Great Britain will not lead to empty supermarket shelves or disrupted power station fuel deliveries. However, there is nothing good about...Read more
G&W automates entire UK terminal network: ‘it’s been transformational’
By the end of this year, Genesee & Wyoming Inc (G&W) will have implemented terminal operating systems (TOS) at ten of its UK terminals. What is more, the systems will be integrated. In doing this,...Read more
Toyota car parts on the rail between Spain-France by GEFCO
GEFCO has set up a road-rail service to transport car parts for customer and automotive giant Toyota. The service will run between Spain and northern France with two daily roundtrips. This is a modal shift...Read more
DFDS to launch Sète-Calais rail link to support Turkey-UK freight flows
Danish ro-ro shipping and logistics group DFDS will launch a rail freight connection between Sète and Calais later this month. With this service, it aims to offer customers transit times of seven days for freight...Read more
Easter is no holiday as over 500 projects kick-off on UK network
It is one of the busiest engineering programmes ever on the UK rail network. The traditional Easter holiday – a four-day period from Friday to Monday – is always used to make running repairs all...Read more
Rail freight traffic Finland-Russia resumes
UPDATEThree days after suspending traffic between Finland and Russia, VR Group can resume it. Effective from Wednesday, 30 March, the decision to restart rail freight operations to and from Russia results from further consultation with...Read more
Gopet Trans sets up Halkali-Antwerp connection as demand grows
A new rail freight connection between the Halkali terminal in Istanbul and Antwerp in Belgium has been available in the market for a few days now. The service, which has a long-distance setup, focuses on...Read more
Kombiverkehr goes to Rotterdam in three different ways
Kombiverkehr has added a new continental service between Nuremberg’s TriCon Terminal and Rotterdam Cobelfret to the 2022 timetable. The service is available for the transport of semitrailers, containers and swap bodies.Read more
Who will actually use the new Werrington Tunnel?
The UK government made much political capital out of a stage-managed opening of the dive-under tunnel at Werrington near Peterborough last week. The structure, which allows traffic to pass under the East Coast Main Line,...Read more
Rock and Rail: 8,000 tonnes of ‘rock armour’ to protect UK line against floods
An increase in extreme weather over the past two years has seen several washouts on the Marches Line in the UK, causing short notice closures of up to seven days. To minimise future disruption and...Read more
Spanish fruits and vegetables on the train to London
A new direct railway line has been opened between the Spanish port of Alicante and London. The Alicante-London Bridge, as the service is called, assures shipments between the cities in 72 hours. It is organised...Read more