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Issue 3 2012 / 8 June 2012 /
Since the beginning of 2012, three important reports on Norwegian railways have been issued in quick succession. First was the major high-speed study, followed by Jernbaneverket’s concept study for expansion of the InterCity network in eastern Norway. Subsequently, the central government agencies for sea, air, road and rail transport tabled their proposals for a new National Transport Plan (NTP) covering the period 2014-23.
The high-speed study examines options for the future of the rail network and recommends long-term strategies for developing longdistance passenger rail services on the main routes in the southern part of Norway: Oslo-Trondheim, Oslo-Bergen, Oslo-Stavanger and Bergen-Haugesund-Stavanger, plus the Oslo-Gothenburg and Oslo-Stockholm cross-border routes. The InterCity study is intended to establish a timeline and a cost estimate for comprehensive expansion of the InterCity network. The report proposes construction of double-track lines for speeds of up to 250km/h on the Oslo-Halden, Oslo-Larvik and Oslo-Lillehammer routes. In this way, the InterCity routes will be upgraded for future high-speed trains. (more…)
Issue 3 2012 / 8 June 2012 /
Latvian Railways (LDz) has been a leading Baltic freight transport company for the last few years. Considering the increase in Latvian Railways’ main freight groups – coal and oil products – and to keep up with growing demand, Latvian Railways is now seeking opportunities to develop infrastructure in the fastest and most efficient way to provide greater throughput.
Rail freight turnover record
2011 was a record year for LDz Cargo – Latvian Railways’ freight sector. It carried 59.4 million freight tonnes, which means the infrastructure capacity of 65 million tonnes per year has almost been reached. In order to provide greater throughput according to the growing demand, it is planned to increase infrastructure capacity to 85 million tonnes per year. Increasing capacity towards Russia, Belorussia and Lithuania is also planned. The busiest railway section in the country is between Daugavpils and Indra (on the border of Belorussia). The interval headway between trains on this singletrack section is approximately 20 minutes. Latvian Railways is responsible for almost 2,000km of railroad in total.
Cooperating with colleagues from Russian Railways, intensive work has been carried out in order to gain common support for Latvian Railways’ initiative to increase the infrastructure capacity. (more…)
Rail industry news / 28 April 2011 /
The multi-year agreement provides Maersk with committed space for the transportation of boxes from the UK’s largest container port, Felixstowe, and throughout Freightliner’s network. (more…)
Issue 1 2011 / 15 February 2011 /
Strategically placed in the centre of Europe, Luxembourg’s railway network attracts, through the combined efforts of CFL and its freight subsidiaries CFL cargo and CFL Multimodal, important quantities of both passenger and freight traffic. Concerning freight transport, Luxembourg was no stranger to the effects the financial crisis had on the world. By and large, heavy industry transported less products and raw materials throughout the last two years. Still, the CFL freight operators were able to compensate for the losses by recruiting a variety of smaller transport contracts, resulting in more freight trains running on the CFL network. (more…)
Rail industry news / 1 February 2011 /
SNCB Logistics has today become operational as an autonomous company and rail operator. The SNCB Group has provided its new subsidiary with all the necessary means and resources to run freight trains in Belgium and in neighbouring countries. This constitutes an essential step in the reorganisation of the SNCB freight activity. SNCB Logistics is a public limited company of private law and has a structure with its own national rail production, commercial subsidiaries (IFB and Xpedys) and international corridors. The group has a solid base to become profitable and competitive and to develop into an independent, efficient, international logistics concern. SNCB Logistics will continue to call on SNCB for shunting operations, a part of the traction and the maintenance of the rolling stock.
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Issue 6 2010 / 10 December 2010 /
An effective way of transporting goods across the country is by rail freight, and this is vital to Britain’s economy. Not only does it provide a faster, greener, safer and more efficient way of transporting heavy loads than roads, it is responsible for moving over 100 million tonnes of goods hundreds of miles every year – providing the backbone to power Britain’s economy. (more…)
Issue 6 2010 / 10 December 2010 /
Freightliner Maintenance Ltd (FML) faced significant challenges to turn an abandoned freight terminal into a fully-functioning railport for a customer running liquid products. In an interview for European Railway Review, Dave Curtis, General Manager of FML, explains the work involved with this important project and also the success so far of FML now that it operates as a separate unit within Freightliner Group Ltd. (more…)
Rail industry news / 1 June 2010 /
Groupe Eurotunnel has acquired the third largest British rail freight operator, GBRf, from international transporter FirstGroup plc. (more…)
Issue 3 2010 / 31 May 2010 /
With its 140-year history, Estonian Railways has been a bright example in illustrating how to adapt to circumstances and successfully cope with them in the rapidly changing economic environment of recent years. 2009 represented an important year for Estonian Railways, when it carried out several significant changes concerning its tariff system, investments, and the optimisation of its activities.
On 14 January 2009, Estonian Railways founded two new affiliates: EVR Infra Ltd. (a rail infrastructure undertaking) and EVR Cargo Ltd. (a rail transport services undertaking). These companies have become a group of undertakings working under control of Estonian Railways Ltd. (more…)
Issue 3 2010 / 31 May 2010 /
It might be a daring statement in the light of current events, but the last two years have been a great success for Latvian Railways (LDz) – in 2008 it transported a record amount of cargo and in 2009 was spared a significant reduction of volumes and continued with extensive investment and development projects.
2008 recorded excellent amounts of carried cargo. We achieved a historical record; the largest amount of cargo ever transported by LDz – 56 million tonnes. Although initially it seemed that the complicated state of the economy, especially in the railway transport sector, would also threaten LDz, we managed to avoid a significant drop in volumes – in the previous year the reduction was only 4.3% compared to the record in 2008, while in Russia this decrease was approximately 15% and in Lithuania as much as 22%. (more…)
Issue 3 2010 / 31 May 2010 /
The issue of increasing the role of international rail transportation between Europe and Asia has recently been growing in significance. Countries of the Asia-Pacific region, primarily China, are maintaining positive economic growth trends despite the global recession, and potential for boosting their foreign trade, including with European Union countries. Russia, being a natural transport bridge between Europe and Asia, can play an important role in this trade. Therefore, one of the main goals set out in the Strategy for Developing Rail Transport up to 2030 approved by the Russian government is deep integration into the Eurasian transport system. (more…)
Issue 2 2010 / 5 April 2010 /
The Verband Deutscher Verkehrsunternehmen (Association of German Transport Companies (VDV)) with approximately 550 ordinary members and more than 50 extraordinary members is the established address for many institutions in politics and administration, trade and industry, research and training for questions of public transport and rail freight traffic in Germany. Thus, the association also includes 147 railway passenger transport companies and 202 rail freight companies among its members. (more…)
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