Category: Infrastructure

Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway to open for traffic in two weeks

Freight trains will start running along the newly renovated Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway on 20 May 2024. The plan is to turn the line into the main artery of the Middle Corridor and further boost Eurasian rail freight transport, according to Roshvan Rustamov, Chairman of Azerbaijan Railways (ADY). Rustamov mentioned that the works on the Georgian…

Bank Holiday Disruption for passengers travelling from London and Birmingham

Passengers travelling from London Euston, London Marylebone and Birmingham New Street are being warned of bank holiday travel disruption this weekend

French region eyes six-fold increase in rail freight via targeted investment

France’s Brittany region plans to increase its rail freight traffic six-fold by 2050, reaching nine million tonnes of goods transported. To achieve this, the regional public authority, the French State and rail network manager SNCF Réseau are implementing a multi-year investment programme until 2027, totalling 64 million euros. It compares to a previous rail freight…

DB Cargo Scandinavia completes freight pilot to Danish port of Hirtshals

DB Cargo Scandinavia completed a freight train test to the northern Danish Port of Hirtshals on 2 May. The rail operator ran the test to demonstrate the feasibility of an intermodal freight route between continental Europe and Norway. As part of the “Green Jutland Corridor”, a green logistics project that aims to connect Norway, Sweden…

DB begins 1.6 billion euro expansion of Hanau-Gelnhausen line

In a bid to fortify the rail system in Hesse, Deutsche Bahn (DB) has embarked on a 1.6 billion euro project to expand the 23-kilometre-long Hanau–Gelnhausen line to four tracks. The initiative, aimed at enhancing both passenger and freight transportation, received its official commencement during an on-site gathering in Gelnhausen on Monday. The expansion, a…

The Middle Corridor remains too expensive as an alternative China-Europe route

The Middle Corridor, a multimodal China-Europe freight route through Central Asia, has garnered international interest as a potential alternative to transporting freight through Russia. Illustratively, the EU has allocated 10 billion euros for its development. The corridor remains too expensive to become a route of preference, explains Roland Verbraak, general manager of BTTMultimodalGroup. BTT, a…

Italian region near Slovenia shares environmental concerns on Divača-Koper project

The Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG), which borders Slovenia, asked for more details concerning the environmental impact of the doubling of the Divača-Koper line. “The Region considers that technical investigations into the documentation received from Slovenia are necessary”, the region claimed. FVG is asking for more detailed information to be included in the…

Twenty years of EU membership: What has it brought Polish rail freight?

Poland, alongside nine other countries, has been a member of the European Union for 20 years. EU membership brought with it many investments, which also benefited Polish rail infrastructure. The 166 billion Polish złoty (27 billion euros) in investments have transformed Polish railways, says national rail operator PKP. PKP reviewed the contribution of “huge funds”…