The railway stretching from Ghent to Bruges, in northwestern Belgium, is currently being upgraded to become a four-track line. Two new tracks are currently being built and the two existing ones will be renovated afterwards. The line is quite valuable for rail freight as it links the three largest ports of the country. The new…
Author: Marco Raimondi
Nevomo extends its scope within and outside the EU
Nevomo, a Polish company specialised in hyperloop-inspired technologies, is expanding its presence both in Europe and India. When it comes to the Old Continent, the company partnered up with the Institute of Hyperloop Technology (IHT) and the German University of Emden-Leer in the context of the GoTube project. Moreover, Nevomo started collaborating with Umeandus to…
Italy wants to prioritise rail freight once Frejus Railway partially reopens
Italy will try to have a few freight trains running again through the Frejus Railway, the main border crossing to France, before its full reopening. The line has been completely closed since August 2023 due to a massive landslide in Saint-André à La Praz, roughly 20 kilometres from the French border with Italy. Predicting when…
Romania reduces track access charges to boost intermodality
The Romanian state-owned railway group Compania Națională de Căi Ferate (CFR) is reducing track access charges (TAC) by 33 per cent for some intermodal services. There are a few conditions that need to be met in order to qualify for the discount, as it was explained by Romanian media Intermodal & Logistics. For example, the…
Romania reduces track access charges to boost intermodality
The Romanian state-owned railway group Compania Națională de Căi Ferate (CFR) is reducing track access charges (TAC) by 33 per cent for some intermodal services. There are a few conditions that need to be met in order to qualify for the discount, as it was explained by Romanian media Intermodal & Logistics. For example, the…
‘Going back to pre-war levels might hinder quality of services’
One of the main points raised at the RailFreight Summit ‘24 is that going back to pre-war rail freight volumes between China and Europe across Russia might not be in the general interests of the industry. DB Cargo Eurasia managing director Tabea Klang highlighted that going back to those levels might hinder the current quality…
‘Moldova might separate IM and RU tasks by year’s end’
Ukraine and Moldova need to separate the roles of infrastructure manager (IM) and railway undertaking (RU) to be integrated into European railways. It seems that Moldova might achieve this by the end of 2024, as Harry Karandeinos from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) mentioned during the RailFreight Summit ‘24. Karandeinos, Principal Sustainable…
Subsidy for rail freight rolling stock in Italy will remain after all
Despite recent concerns, the Italian government will not cancel a measure aimed at helping companies purchasing rail rolling stock. A total of 115 million euros, thus, will still be deployed to cover 20 per cent of the costs retroactively to 2021. Fears of a cancellation of this measure surfaced in March, when the Italian Chamber…
SBB Cargo France has no plans to take over Fret SNCF routes
A new subsidiary of the Swiss Federal Railways, christened SBB Cargo France, was recently established to provide services along “the French route through Alsace as an alternative to the German Rhine Valley”. A spokesperson from the company specified that there are no current plans to take over services from Fret SNCF, which is undergoing a…
DAC: Digital Automatic Coupling or Digital Age Conundrum?
Currently, the common denominator concerning the implementation of the Digital Automatic Coupling (DAC) in Europe seems to be confusion. A third DAC consortium, renamed DACFIT, was just formed by Deutsche Bahn (DB), which also plays a key role in the other two. However, a clear timetable is not yet available despite the EU envisioning a…