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A new rail freight service from Jinhua to Dourges, in France has been initiated. Freight forwarders are warning of congestion on overland freight routes, as rail freight becomes more popular. The first train on the new route left Jinhua on ...Read More
Tags: China, freight, rail freight
The Freight Transport Association and the Rail Freight Group (RFG) have praised the role of rail in supporting the public, logistics industry and wider UK economy in delivering essential items across the nation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The rail industry ...Read More
Tags: freight, rail freight
A major shipping line is opening a China-to-Turkey rail freight service, with automotive and technology a particular target for the operators. Air freight prices from China to Europe are continuing to rise and transporting goods by railfreight is becoming more ...Read More
Tags: China, freight, rail freight, shipping
An Estonian Rail operator has increased its containerised freight tonnage by 110% compared to 2018. ‘Our multimodal transport project helped boost the significant rise in container transport, accounting for nearly half of the total growth’, said the Chairman Raul. ... ...Read More
Tags: freight, rail freight
A freight train carrying 35 containers of mushroom products left Nanyang in central China’s Henan Province on the first week of January, heading for Russia. The freight train will arrive at the port city of Qingdao, in east China’s Shandong ...Read More
Tags: China, containers, freight, Seafreight
An international event focusing on transportation between Belarus, Latvia, and Scandinavia has been organized by Latvian Railways in Sweden. Belarusian companies use rail freight to export mineral fertilizers, oil products, timber, construction materials, ferrous metals, and other goods to Lithuania, ...Read More
Tags: Denmark, Finland, freight, Norway, rail freight, Sweden freight
A freight train carrying materials and parts for railway construction left Jinan, the capital of east China's Shandong Province, for Serbia last week. This is a new freight train route linking China and Serbia. The parts and equipment are for ...Read More
Tags: China, freight, rail freight
One of the UK's largest rail freight companies has just been sold to a new owner. Said to be the third largest rail freight operator in the UK it operates more than 1,000 trainloads of freight a week, moving about ...Read More
Tags: cargo, freight, rail freight
A daily rail freight connection from Teesport to Scotland has been celebrated with an official locomotive naming ceremony at Teesport. Teesport now offers more daily freight connections to Scotland than any other port in the North, after a second Scottish ...Read More
Tags: freight, rail freight
Eurotunnel is preparing to operate additional freight train services and building a new terminal for unaccompanied trailers; this may be a preparation for a 'no deal' Brexit, but actually might be a more efficient way to handle cross Channel freight ...Read More
Tags: freight, rail freight
The operator of the Port of Vladivostok, and Rail Cargo Logistics-RUS will support exports by rail freight from Russia to China on behalf of the Russian Export Center. The operators say they will establish the best transport routes, and provide ...Read More
Tags: China, exports, freight, rail freight, russia
A leading multi-modal logistics company will operate the Strategic Rail Freight Interchange (SRFI) at SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway (SLP-EMG). They will also base their Rail Headquarters at the site. The rail terminal will be able to handle up ...Read More
Tags: container, containers, freight, rail freight
GB Railfreight has initiated a five-days-per-week intermodal freight service from Birch Coppice near Birmingham to Felixstowe. This will be the fifth new intermodal freight service in the past 18 months, and second into the Birch Coppice terminal. 'It is demonstrative ...Read More
Tags: freight, rail freight
Canada has approved broad air and freight reforms to specify passengers’ rights on planes, mandate the use of voice and video recorders in rail locomotives, and provide more choice for shippers with limited transport options. Reforms are intended to help ...Read More
Tags: Canada, freight, rail freight
Recent rail freight figures show a positive future for rail freight for consumer goods and construction materials, which together now account for almost two-thirds of UK rail freight. The biggest issue facing rail freight is a shortage of infrastructure capacity. ...Read More
Tags: freight, rail freight
The first rail freight service from the port of Liverpool made its inaugural journey on 8 May, officially launched by the mayor. The intention is to reduce road haulage miles locally. The mayor said; “Improving our connectivity, both logistically and ...Read More
Tags: containers, exports, freight, rail freight
The freight sector of Swiss Railways, SBB Cargo suffered a massive loss of SFr 239m, after a small but encouraging profit of SFr 1m the previous year. This was due completely to the slump in the domestic sector. SBB Cargo ...Read More
Tags: freight, rail freight
A group of more than 50 rail freight stakeholders is presented a petition to the Dutch Parliament, asking for action to help stimulate rail cargo transport and put it on level footing with its German counterparts. The petition was organised ...Read More
Tags: freight, Netherlands, rail freight
Philippa Edmunds, Freight on Rail manager, reflects on the DfT’s new rail freight strategy and what it means for the sector. The DfT rail freight strategy, published in September, is most welcome as it provides a clear vision for rail ...Read More
Tags: freight, rail freight
The top priorities for a Strategic Rail Freight Network are easy to identify: the key Anglo-Scottish West Coast Main Line (in particular) and East Coast Main Line need the full capability and capacity to accommodate 775m-long intermodal trains carrying industry-standard ...Read More
Tags: rail freight
But much more needs to be done to increase the amount of freight carried by rail. The industry should work in partnership with government and customers to deliver rail freight services in sectors such as aggregates, timber and movement ...Read More
Tags: rail freight
A scheme which would sacrifice farmland for a major rail freight terminal has been questioned by students from the University of Northampton. The proposals, which are to be examined by the Planning Inspectorate, are for a rail depot the size ...Read More
Tags: freight, logistics, rail freight
Scotland's Transport Minister Derek Mackay has launched the government's new rail freight strategy called 'Delivering the Goods.' The strategy aims to make the country's rail freight sector competitive and sustainable for meeting the demands of modern markets, as well as ...Read More
Tags: freight, rail freight
The Australian Government is extending five passing loops across Victoria and South Australia to facilitate the operation of 1,800m freight trains. The $15m loops extension project will be carried out at Mile End in South Australia, and Pyrenees, Murtoa, Pimpinio ...Read More
Tags: freight, rail freight
Fret SNCF, the freight transport arm of France’s national rail operator, is conducting a series of new trials with 1,000-metre freight trains. As continuation of last year’s Marathon long freight train project, Fret SNCF will run 12 trains between October ...Read More
Tags: freight, rail freight
The Rail Freight Group has welcomed the meeting between Theresa May and French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve to agree a deal on providing greater security measures to protect cross channel freight traffic. In a statement, the Group said this would ...Read More
Tags: freight
Expanding America's pipeline infrastructure would relieve the nation's overburdened freight rail network and improve service for farmers across the country, according to a new study from the American Farm Bureau Federation. The booming energy business in the Upper Midwest increased ...Read More
Tags: freight, rail freight, USA
In 2013, about 71 percent of the 734-million tons of freight in South Africa was moved by road, despite the fact that railways make up 80 percent of Africa’s infrastructure, according to a PWC report. Over the next four years, ...Read More
Tags: freight, rail freight
A High Court challenge to a government decision to grant planning permission for a Strategic Rail Freight Interchange (SRFI) on the former Radlett Airfield in Park Street was unsuccessful. St Albans council has until mid April to decide whether to ...Read More
Tags: freight
St Albans MP Anne Main was told last week that the appeal by Helioslough to build a rail freight terminal on the Green Belt site of the former Radlett Airfield had been successful. Among the factors which have influenced the ...Read More
Tags: freight, rail freight
A report has recently been published in the UK, titled ‘Keeping the lights on and the traffic moving: The benefits of rail freight for the UK economy’ for the Rail Delivery Group (RDG)in the UK. The report points out that ...Read More
Tags: freight
SLOVENIAN Railways (SŽ) saw a strong recovery in freight traffic last year according to the company's annual figures, which show volumes increased by 9% to 17.6 million tonnes. Freight performance rose by 10% year-on-year to 3.89 billion net tonne-km as ...Read More
Tags: freight, Seafreight
The first 1·5 km long freight train was run between Sibelin yard near Lyon and Nîmes on January 18, marking the start of the demonstration phase of the Project Marathon research programme. Project Marathon was launched in April 2011 and ...Read More
Tags: freight, Seafreight
China Railway Corporation (CRC) is expected to raise freight rates early this year in order to relieve its massive debt burden and speed up market-oriented reform in the industry, in which it has the monopoly. Such a move may further ...Read More
Tags: China, freight, rail freight, Seafreight
The people of St Albans have been given “a ray of hope” by the county council, which has delayed its decision on whether or not to sell the land at Radlett Airfield for a rail freight terminal. The developers, HelioSlough, ...Read More
At the Rail Freight Group Christmas lunch, Baroness Susan Kramer, minister of state for transport said that HS2 was “desperately needed to relieve congestion” and to ensure the continued growth and success of the freight sector. She said that rail ...Read More
Tags: rail freight
On December 4 a conference in Paris, France marked the mid-point of the EU-funded Sustrail research programme to ‘integrate vehicle and track innovations for a more sustainable freight railway’. Sustrail is an EU funded research programme which aims to make ...Read More
Tags: freight, Seafreight
THE heart of Scotland’s rail freight industry lies in hub railheads along the Mossend-Coatbridge-Grangemouth axis. This is the north end of the West Coast Main Line which is the busiest trunk route for freight in Britain., where millions of tonnes ...Read More
Tags: freight, Seafreight
The dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India has allowed four companies to bid for electrical and signalling works on the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor. The 343km Bhaupur - Khurja section of the 1829km Freight Corridor (DFC) for cargo carried by ...Read More
Tags: freight, Seafreight
Major multinational companies are planning new rail freight corridors, after the success of a regular service from Poland this autumn. The companies have formed a co-operative to provide a platform for reducing CO2 emissions by transferring freight from road to ...Read More
An intersecting rail freight service from Calais to an existing rail motorway in Luxembourg is scheduled for early in 2015. The current rail motorway runs from Luxembourg to Le Bolou near Perpignan at the foot of the Pyrenees. The French ...Read More
The government of France has announced two projects to create rail freight 'motorways' where lorries will be transferred off the roads and on to dedicated trains. One of these will operate between Lille in Northern France and Bayonne, near the ...Read More
An experiment has begun to ship Scotch whisky from Elgin in Speyside to Grangemouth Rail Freight Terminal. Currently, all bulk Scotch whisky freight is moved by road from Speyside to warehouses and bottling halls across central Scotland. This experiment is ...Read More
A new daily service from Felixstowe to Doncaster has started to run from the country's largest container port.There are now 60 freight train movements each day handled by Felixstowe. The new service should take 1.75 million HGV miles each year ...Read More
Volumes of container rail freight should rise in consequence of recent Government reform, increasing investment, and the launch of several international services. Under the reformed government institutions a network of intermodal rail hubs is being set up. Fewer containers are ...Read More
China has begun modernising its rail freight industry after seeking opinions from customers. The Beijing Railway Bureau Freight Center is offering new services, including a direct freight container train from Beijing to Chengdu in Southwest China. Reforms began on June ...Read More
The Port of Felixstowe has opened a new rail freight terminal, which will double capacity at the container port. Felixstowe is the busiest container port in the UK, with over 40% of the country's containerised traffic. Around 33 shipping lines ...Read More
An academic from a Gothenburg University has won an international logistics award worth 10 000 euros. His dissertation 'Urban freight transport sustainability. The interaction of urban freight and intermodal transport', discusses how rail freight and road freight can be integrated ...Read More
The Chinese Government is investing heavily in rail infrastructure to enable freight traffic from manufacturers in the interior to gain access to ports. The development also offers the possibility of other shipping options; some Third Party Logistics Providers are considering ...Read More
Romania's loss-making state owned rail freight operator, CFR Marfa, is to be privatised as a condition imposed by the IMF and the EU in return for an aid deal in 2011. The starting price for the rail freight unit has ...Read More
72 intermodal wagons are to be modified to operate daily freight services from the new London Gateway port from late in 2013. Their deck height will be reduced to 1 metre, which will enable them to carry high-cube containers.
The new express freight train from Chengdu in China to Lodz in Poland is more expensive than ocean freight but offers far shorter transit times than the 30 - 49 days by ship. Rates are cheaper than air freight. The ...Read More
A new rail freight terminal opening this summer in Felixstowe should enable the port to double its capacity. The port already has the busiest intermodal rail terminal in the UK, and is hoping that increasing its capacity will attract logistics ...Read More
The French rail operator SNCF is appealing against a fine levied on the rail freight division. The company president says that the fine is unfair, because it refers to practices which date back to the opening up of the rail ...Read More
Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local government, has finally approved Planning Permission for the Strategic Rail Freight Interchange at Radlett. The news has been welcomed by industry organisations, including the Freight Transport Association and the Rail ...Read More
The Rail Freight group said it was disappointed at the conclusions of the Office of the Rail Regulator on track access charges. These charges will apply to freight traffic in the next regulatory control period. The RFG says that this ...Read More
The Rail Freight Group's chairman has written to the European Commissioners, requesting them to maintain their policy of liberalisation of the rail sector. He argues that other member states, especially France and Germany, are fighting to maintain their monopolistic structures ...Read More
The railway freight companies of the Czech Republic and Slovakia may merge as both companies have financial problems. The possibility of a merger has been discussed before, but both Prime Ministers admitted it on TV this week. Small rail freight ...Read More
The Rail Freight Group in the UK is questioning why rail freight services will be charged an additional 750 Euros security surcharge in France. Freight lorries, which so far have been the cause of all four fires in the Channel ...Read More
The business federation of Norway has criticised the government for failing to invest in the state railway's primary rail cargo hub in Alnabru, Oslo. The business leaders say that facilities need to be up graded to include electronic freight handling ...Read More
Rail freight services between the UK and Italy are used by a wide range of retailers, good producers and manufacturers; this has prompted the introduction of an additional weekly services between Hams Hall in the Midlands and Domodossola in Northern ...Read More
Rail Freight to and from Gothenburg, Sweden, increased by 10%in quarter 3 in comparison with 2011. Rail traffic to and from Gothenburg currently replaces around 700 freight truck movements per day. Around 26 rail shuttles offer daily departures; the latest ...Read More
The Transport Ministry of Sweden is proposing an ambitious plan to modernise railway lines. Two thirds of them withal be allocated as primary rail freight corridors serving ports and airports. The investment of Skr 55 billion is the largest amount ...Read More
A bi-weekly intermodal train service between Instanbul and Sopron in Hungary will carry up to 36 freight containers per journey. Transit time via Bulgaria and Serbia should be 5 - 6 days.
The three-day long power blackout in India a couple of weeks ago caused major problems for the rail freight sector, but road freight and air freight were largely unaffected. With the threat of millions of stranded passengers, the authorities chose ...Read More
A freight train broke down at the entrance to the Severn Tunnel on 5 August, blocking access and causing major delays in fright and passenger traffic. It was removed the following day, being taken away by the operating freight firm at ...Read More
The Rail Freight Group welcomed the Government's pledge to make a major investment in rail development, saying that the package would support future growth and enable freight operators and customers to develop ever more efficient and innovative services. Other industry trade ...Read More
The Rail Freight Group (RFG) has welcomed wholeheartedly the agreement w between the EU member states, the European Parliament and the Commission on the First Railway Package Recast. The organisation, which represents over one hundred member companies from the freight and ...Read More
A new charging scheme for rail freight is due to be implemented in 2014, and the Office of Rail Regulation is proposing to extend a special freight levy to new classes of cargo. The freight specific charge, which is currently ...Read More
Three new freight terminals will be developed in northern Italy,as part of Europe's plans to improve the rail infrastructure for cargo. The Gotthard Base Tunnel, which is due to open in 2017, will help to improve transit on the Rotterdam-Genoa ...Read More
The freight subsidiary of Eurotunnel, Europorte, has been given permission to run on the Belgian rail network. The operator said that Belgium’s location “at the heart of the European crossroads”, presented a number of opportunities for Europorte, the third largest operator ...Read More
Earlier this week, the new North Rail project was officially launched at the port of Felixstowe. This will be the third rail terminal at the UK’s largest freight container port and the first able to handle 30-wagon freight trains, capable of ...Read More
The Rail Freight Group has welcomed the Government decision to progress development of a high speed rail line to the Midlands and North, saying that it would provide useful new capacity for freight and free up rail paths on the ...Read More
Rail freight from Karachi ceased for six months due to a lack of locomotives starting last July. Daily freight services will now recommence to clear a backlog of of coal, phosphate and railways material at the port. Container freight services will ...Read More
in 2009 the French government announced plans to promote sustainable freight transport. Contributing towards this goal are 'train motorways' which can take longer trains at higher speeds. This helps to achieve the goal of more freight miles for less carbon. ...Read More
A new rail terminal at Felixstowe will be the first in the UK to be able to handle longer, 30-wagon freight trains which allow more containers to be moved on the same infrastructure, and provide greater carbon savings. Felixstowe is ...Read More
Next year France's railway network will be modernised at around 1000 locations, as part of a plan to renovate the whole rail structure by 2016. Most of the modernisation work will take place at night, so the impact on rail freight is ...Read More
Last week the Government issued Policy Guidance on Strategic Rail Freight Interchanges. This is part of the Logistics Growth Review. The Government supports the transfer of freight from road to rail, where it is practical and economic to do so. The ...Read More
Councillors in Spalding have welcomed enquiries from developers outside the region to turn the area into a rail freight hub. They view this as a way of securing existing jobs, and creating new ones, in an area which struggles with ...Read More
A dispute between major freight railroads in the USA and labour unions has been running for over a year; in a bid to avert strike action, the White House has appointed a presidential emergency board to try and resolve the ...Read More
The rail freight route from Detroit to Chicago will begin improvements next year, after being granted $196.5 million from the US Federal Railroad Administration. Construction should begin in spring next year on new track, fibre optic lines and train control ...Read More
Today the strike ballot called by the RMT union at Freightliner closes. Managers at Southampton's main rail freight operator were balloted for strike action, and action short of a strike, in a dispute over what the RMT calls 'fair' pay and ...Read More
In the first half of 2011 almost 50% more trains than in 2010 ran on the freight only railway Betuwe Route, which connects the Port of Rotterdam with the European hinterland. The railway operator attributes the growth partly to a ...Read More
On 4 October the Rail Delivery Group published its plans to improve cost efficiency and increase the volume of freight carried by 30%. The scheme to improve UK rail efficienty by 2019 was warmly welcomed, by the Association of Train Operating ...Read More
From September onwards, the existing rail freight service between Rotterdam and Antwerp will also call at the Rail Service Center in Rotterdam. This creates direct access to the rail freight network in South and South-East Europe. This will help to ...Read More
There will be an open auction in Russia next month, to sell 75% of the freight subsidiary of Russian Railways. There seem to be three main contenders to purchase the business, funds from which will help Russian Railways to finance ...Read More
The EU has agreed to co-finance a study to build a new railway yard on the outskirts of Rotterdam in Holland. The study precedes the construction of the yard, which will give the port more capacity to handle rail freight. ...Read More
Emerging markets will become more and more important in the global economy, as countries like India and China report growth rates of around 10%, in sharp contrast to the developed Western economies. The CEO of Agility Europe wrote in the ...Read More
Network Rail, the UK rail infrastructure operator, is appointing a Director of Freight to help develop the network to meet the projected increase in rail freight traffic. Responsible for developing the network for freight, he will work with Network Rail's ...Read More
A spectacular increase in freight traffic has helped Eurotunnel to get back in the black during the first half of 2011. Truck shuttles increased by 21% over last year, and freight traffic rose by 21%. Many industrial customers have returned ...Read More
The first of a new series of courses designed by the Rail Freight Group and the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport has just been completed. The one day course is for freight buyers who view the rail sector as ...Read More