Mercitalia Rail, the freight arm of the Italian railway holding Ferrovie dello Stato (FS), finalised an agreement with French manufacturer Alstom for 70 Traxx Universal locomotives. The contract has a value of 323 million euros and includes the possibility of adding 30 more locomotives. With this deal, Alstom will also be tasked with the maintenance…
Author: Marco Raimondi
Capacity Regulation deployment could be delayed by three years
The EU Council’s new draft of the Capacity Management Regulation of the Greening Freight Package is causing adverse reactions, especially among the European rail freight sector. For example, the new version delays the Regulation’s implementation by three years. Moreover, the roles infrastructure managers (IMs) in the Regulation have been changed by the Council. Some of…
‘Policymakers are giving up on rail freight goals’
The EU Council adopted a General Approach on the Capacity Management Regulation of the Greening Freight Package on Tuesday, 18 June. This means that the EU Council presented a new version of the Regulation where several changes were introduced. This step, however, is not enough to meet the goals set out by the European Union…
Hundreds of PKP Cargo employees to be moved to passenger operator
The Polish national rail freight operator PKP Cargo is sailing through troubled waters due to decreasing volumes and performance. The company placed thousands of its employees into inactive status since the beginning of June. However, the situation is less bleak for up to 300 of them, who will be hired by Polregio, a Polish company…
Hundreds of PKP Cargo employees to be moved to passenger operator
The Polish national rail freight operator PKP Cargo is sailing through troubled waters due to decreasing volumes and performance. The company placed thousands of its employees into inactive status since the beginning of June. However, the situation is less bleak for up to 300 of them, who will be hired by Polregio, a Polish company…
Azerbaijan Railways might be the next to build a rail terminal in China
Azerbaijani Railways (ADY) is considering the option of purchasing or building a railway terminal in China. The company follows a recent trend initiated by KTZ, and possibly aims at maximizing the capacity of the Middle Corridor. ADY’s Chairman Rovshan Rustamov made the company’s intentions known to appoint a special representative for China, as Azerbaijani outlet…
EU Council gives final approval for new TEN-T regulation
The EU Council finally adopted the revised regulation concerning the development of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T). The act still needs to be signed by the Presidents of the EU Council and the European Parliament before being published in the EU’s official journal. The regulation will then enter into force 20 days after the publication.…
EU Member States are not satisfied with the Greening Freight Package
A few EU Member States showed some dissatisfaction with the recent developments regarding the Greening Freight Package. Germany, France, Austria and the Netherlands were not happy with the definition of Combined Transport. Moreover, Sweden does not seem to satisfied with the Capacity Management Regulation as it abstained from voting on Council proposal during the EU…
Spanish region gets billions of euros for Atlantic Corridor development
The Spanish Ministry of Transport will invest 2.8 billion euros for the development of the TEN-T Atlantic Corridor in the Asturias region. The vast majority will be allocated to the railways. Of the 2.8 billion euros allocated for Asturias, 2.42 will be dedicated to railway projects. The remaining funds will be split between road infrastructure…
Will Switzerland fund the upgrade of the railway on the Rhine’s left bank?
The Swiss Federal Council proposed three measures to boost the modal shift from road to rail across the Alps. The main measure is the financing for the adaptation to the 4-metre profile of the railway between Basel, Strasbourg and Metz to create a viable alternative route on the left bank of the Rhine River. However,…