Kazakhstan has cancelled Kazakh Railways’ freight price hikes. Earlier, the planned price increases led to dismay among Kazakh businesses due to worries about their competitiveness. Roman Sklyar, deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, cancelled the increase of so-called price limits for Kazakh Railways (KTZ). The price limits are used to calculate fees for transporting freight on…
Category: Policy
EU Commission approves 180 million euros for Polish intermodal transport
The European Commission (EC) has approved 180 million euros in funding for intermodal transport in Poland. The investments will be funded from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility. According to the EC, the aim of the funding is to develop intermodal transport as an alternative to road transport by increasing its competitiveness. The 180 million…
Latvian petition against manganese ore export to Russia gaining momentum
A petition to ban the export of manganese ore to Russia is picking up the pace in Latvia. The public initiative gathered a third of the required signatures for a parliamentary debate in a single week. The Latvian rail sector has suffered from sanctions on Russia, but public opinion is heavily in favour of them.…
Russia starts rail freight service through occupied Ukrainian land
Russia has launched a rail freight service through occupied Ukrainian territories. It started working on a direct rail line to Crimea over land last year. On 15 March, Russia reported that the freight route between Rostov-on-Don and Crimea started operating. According to Oleg Kalevatykh, the deputy head of ‘Novorossiya Railways’, the first train on the…
Kazakh exporters worried as KTZ plans another fee hike
Kazakh Railways (KTZ) wants to raise its fees for rail freight. The rail operator and infrastructure manager points to its outstanding debt as the culprit for a potential price hike. KTZ earlier received criticism for frequently raising its fees. Kazakh exporters are worried about their competitiveness. KTZ applied to the Kazakh Ministry of National Economy…
DB Cargo to be divided into six units?
The German state-owned rail freight operator is facing an uncertain future due to significant losses and proceedings from the European Commission (EC). In an attempt to become profitable, DB Cargo might be divided into six divisions dedicated to different types of transport. The initiative was shared by German media RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND), which cites a…
France’s rail freight sector voices strong opposition to ‘mega’ trucks
France’s rail freight sector has voiced strong opposition to the European Union’s move to introduce ‘mega’ lorries of more than 25 metres in length and weighing up to 60 tonnes. Trucks in France currently have a maximum length and weight of 19 metres and 40 tonnes, respectively. Speaking on French TV, Alexandre Gallo, President and […]
SBB’s black results cannot hide single wagonload financial bleed-out
The Swiss SBB Group brought its finances back to the black in 2023 for the first time since 2019. Strong passenger transport performance led the Group’s recovery. Cargo performance was still in the red for 2023, despite the closing gap of losses (-40 million francs against -191 million francs in 2022). At the same time, […]