Rail freight - Articles and news items

Freightliner signs multi-million pound contract with Maersk Line

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…)

CFL: the railway network in the centre of Europe

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…)

SNCB Logistics: Operational start as independent company and rail operator

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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The value of rail freight

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…)

Shipshape and Bristol fashion

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…)

Groupe Eurotunnel acquires GBRf (Great Britain Rail Freight)

Rail industry news / 1 June 2010 /

Groupe Eurotunnel has acquired the third largest British rail freight operator, GBRf, from international transporter FirstGroup plc. (more…)

Estonian Railways quickly adapts to changing economic circumstances

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…)

Development progress and a cautiously optimistic outlook

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…)

Russia’s role in increasing international rail transportation

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…)

The VDV and its important work as a railway partner

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…)

Re-engineering Greek railways

Issue 2 2010 / 5 April 2010 /

TRAINOSE S.A. was founded in 2005, initially as a subsidiary of OSE S.A., but became independent of the OSE Group in 2009. Its operational and organisational split from the Hellenic Railways Holding Organisation was part of its initiated restructuring programme to fortify Greece’s railway business and consumer offering in the transnational competitive environment. (more…)

FTA issues note of caution on HS2

Rail industry news / 12 March 2010 /

Leading trade body the Freight Transport Association (FTA), which represents the users of rail freight in the UK, has asked that the needs of freight are not forgotten in the buzz surrounding High Speed Rail 2 (HS2). While FTA supports investment in transport infrastructure, the increasingly important role of rail freight in moving goods around the country must not be undermined by politically exciting passenger-focused schemes. (more…)