US Agency to develop key Ukrainian freight line to Poland
The United States is getting involved in integrating Ukraine into European railways. According to Ukrainian Railways (UZ), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will help develop the line connecting Lviv to Mostyska, on...Read more
Could electric car technologies be applied to rail freight wagons?
InterviewWhat happens if we apply electric vehicle technologies to the rail freight industry? Intramotev, a company based in St. Louis, Missouri, is exploring this question by making rail freight wagons autonomous by retrofitting them with...Read more
Italian Deputy Prime Minister says Parliament is keen on leaving BRI
Antonio Tajani, the Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, claimed that “the large part of the Italian Parliament is in favour of withdrawing” from the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). He added...Read more
Will Italy announce BRI exit this week?
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will meet US President Joe Biden in the White House on Thursday 27 July. One of the topics that will be discussed will be “closer transatlantic coordination regarding the People’s...Read more
A new US-Mexico rail corridor is in the works with CSX and CPKC
Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) and CSX, two of the biggest rail freight companies in the United States, agreed to create a new rail corridor that will stretch from the US Southeast to Mexico. This...Read more
Big rail plans to accommodate big names at the port of Los Angeles
The port of Los Angeles is planning significant upgrades for the biennium 2023-24, as it was shown in the Proposed Annual Budget for the period. The main rail upgrades will revolve around improving operations in...Read more
Ukrainian Railways gets 200 million euros from EBRD
Ukrzaliznytsya (UZ) will receive 200 million euros in sovereign loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). As EBRD specified, these funds will be allocated “to upgrade the country’s railway links with the...Read more
Norfolk Southern becomes first US rail company to provide paid sick leave
Norfolk Southern (NS), one of the main rail freight companies in the United States, reached another agreement for paid sick leave with a trade union. This makes NS the first Class I Railroad to strike...Read more
Europe vs United States: who is doing rail freight right?
Europe has been looking to the United States when it comes to rail freight. In the US it is a profitable business with total yearly revenues exceeding 80 billion US dollars. In Europe, state-owned companies...Read more
Will the US Senate approve the Railway Safety Act?
The US Senate Committee on Commerce approved the Railway Safety Act (RSA) of 2023 on Wednesday 10 May. This bill includes higher safety standards and harsher penalties for companies responsible for accidents. The next step is...Read more
First CPKC service connecting US Midwest and Mexico is running
US weekly updateCanadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), one of the largest railway companies in North America, launched a new service called Mexico Midwest Express (MMX). This, as the company stated, is the only intermodal service operating daily...Read more
Locomotive revolution in California
US weekly updateFreight locomotives built after 2035 will have to run through California on zero-emission configurations. Moreover, by 2030, locomotives older than 23 years will not be allowed to circulate in the state. This was stated in...Read more
Ohio accident: rail freight traffic slowly and partly restarts
US weekly updateOver two and a half months after a disastrous accident in Ohio, in the United States, Norfolk Southern started running trains along the section again, but not at full service. Trains are travelling only on...Read more
Two Mexican immigrants died trying to enter US on a freight train
The US Border Patrol stopped a freight train in Texas after they were notified that a group of immigrants was suffocating inside one of the wagons. Unfortunately, two of them couldn’t make it and passed...Read more
Paid sick leave for rail workers in the US: where do we stand?
US weekly updateNegotiations between trade unions and some of the Class I railway companies in the United States significantly accelerated and brought some results over the last month. Five of the seven Class I companies have found...Read more
US railway giants merge to create first Canada-US-Mexico network
US weekly updateCanadian Pacific (CP) and Kansas City Southern (KCS), two of the largest railway companies in the United States, finalised a merger that will result in a new company called Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC). This...Read more
7 new safety rules for US’ 7 rail freight sisters
The seven dominant railway companies of the US have pledged to adopt a set of seven new rules to try and avoid railway accidents. The rules are to be adopted by all seven Class I...Read more
Ohio derailment: the incriminated wheelset was 122°C too hot
UpdateThe wheelset that caused a disastrous accident in Ohio, United States, at the beginning of February was 122°C hotter than the ambient temperature. This is what transpired from the preliminary report published by the National...Read more
US rail unions hard at work to secure workers’ rights
US weekly updateThings for railway workers in the United States seem to be gradually improving, with trade unions working hard to convince companies to provide their employees with paid sick leave. Two unions, the National Conference of...Read more