Traffic along the Iron Ore Line should fully restart on Thursday, 7 March, after a train derailed near Vassijaure, not far from the Sweden-Norway border, on 24 February. The particularity of this derailment is that it took place only four days after an adjacent section of the Line was reopened following another derailment in the […]
Author: Marco Raimondi
GDL calls for 35-hour strike to get 35-hour working week
The German Union of Locomotive Drivers (GDL) called for a 35-hour strike in protest of the ongoing negotiations with Deutsche Bahn for a new collective bargaining agreement. For the rail freight industry, the initiative will start on Wednesday, 6 March at 6 pm and last until Friday, 8 March at 5 am. The choice of […]
Another piece of the Divača-Koper line falls into place
The Vinjan viaduct, a key piece of the new Divača-Koper railway line, in southwestern Slovenia, was inaugurated last week. The new railway section should be commissioned by 2026 and bring many advantages for rail freight in the area. The Vinjan viaduct stretches for 620 metres, connecting the Mlinarji and Škofije tunnels across the Vinjan valley. […]
Another piece of the Divača-Koper line falls into place
The Vinjan viaduct, a key piece of the new Divača-Koper railway line, in southwestern Slovenia, was inaugurated last week. The new railway section should be commissioned by 2026 and bring many advantages for rail freight in the area. The Vinjan viaduct stretches for 620 metres, connecting the Mlinarji and Škofije tunnels across the Vinjan valley. […]
CEF unlocks 1 billion for alternative fuels, rail doesn’t get a penny
The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) unlocked one billion euros through its Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility (AFIF) to boost the deployment of alternative fuel supply infrastructure across the European Union. However, rail seems to be the only transport sector currently excluded from this project. The initiative is aimed at “road, maritime, inland waterway and air transport […]
DB vs GDL: negotiations failed, new strikes on the horizon?
The negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between Deutsche Bahn (DB) and the German Union of Locomotive Drivers (GDL) seems to have taken another wrong turn. GDL accused DB of leaking confidential information to German media. On the other hand, the German company is saying that the union is “letting the negotiations collapse”. […]
Terminal in Alsace launches first freight train to port of Antwerp
The tri-modal terminal in the port of Lauterbourg, part of the Ports of Strasbourg, deployed the first freight train to the port of Antwerp. The initiative sees the involvement of big industry players including MSC, Fret SNCF and Wascosa. MSC will provide the containers, Fret SNCF will take care of rail traction, while Wascosa will […]
MSC expands rail presence in Italian ports
The month of February saw shipping giant MSC taking further steps to solidify its presence in Italy, with a focus on rail freight. The company recently became a shareholder in Rail Hub Europe, the entity managing the Rivalta Terminal Europe, near the port of Genoa, on the Italian northwest coast. Moreover, the company is working […]
France cuts hundreds of millions from transport and infrastructure plan
The French government announced the cancellation of 10 billion euros that were supposed to be invested throughout the country in 2024. The infrastructure and transport sectors will see their budget decrease by over 341 million euros. This sum, according to French media outlet Maire Info, equals 7 per cent of the total budget previously allocated […]
Rail freight in Italy set back in 2023, subsidies are key to remain afloat
The Italian rail freight sector had to deal with various hiccups throughout 2023 which led to a general drop across the whole industry. RailFreight.com had a chat with Giuseppe Rizzi, managing director of Italy’s largest rail freight association FerMerci to better understand this trend and the causes behind it. “There seems to be a lack […]