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…
Category: Business
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…
Rail freight key to keep Australia’s grain market financially competitive
Bulk transport by rail is among a crop of measures from the Australian GrainGrowers, a national association reprinting the arable farming industry and its supply chain at large. Soaring costs, particularly in transportation, threaten to make home-grown grain financially unsustainable. That is a situation that GrainGrowers recognises as untenable. They seek to address it with…
Ukrainian Railways breaks container volume records and grows capacity
It might sound surprising, but Ukrainian Railways just broke a volume record that has been intact since 2021. Despite continuous challenges in the past years, the state-owned operator recorded an impressive 60 per cent year-on-year increase in TEU (totalling 116,129 TEU) in the first five months of 2024, the highest volume of containerised cargo transported…
North German ports and rail impaired as new warning strike unfolds
Port workers have launched another round of warning strikes, which will prevent North Sea ports in Germany from handling cargo for another 24 hours. The new strike commenced on Monday, 17 June, at 6 a.m. and will last until Tuesday, 18 June, at 6 a.m. Rail freight companies warn about the backlog of services resulting…
End of the line for France’s iconic fresh produce train
The so-called train des primeurs operated by Fret SNCF, which carries fresh fruit and vegetables from Perpignan, in southwest France, to Paris, is to be withdrawn. However, the service could return in 2026 under a new form after the construction of a combined transport terminal at the French capital’s Rungis wholesale market. The seasonal service…
Ukrainian Railways receives half a billion euros in international support
Ukrainian Railways (UZ) is receiving approximately 500 million euros in international financial support. The money comes from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in the form of a loan, as well as from the World Bank and Switzerland as a grant. The money is to be spent on electric locomotives and infrastructure. UZ,…
PKP Cargo concedes to unions as it looks to “Make Cargo Great Again”
PKP Cargo is amending the rules of the emergency ‘failure to perform work’ measure. Trade unions managed to secure a number of concessions from the company to employees, among which is a minimum wage payout at the very least. The PKP Cargo president is calling upon the remaining unions to enter into dialogue, to improve…
Rail freight misses out on German rail expansion act funding
Rail freight will not be included in the German Federal Railway Infrastructure Expansion Act (BSWAG). As a result, German rail freight will miss out on ETCS funding and compensation for the upcoming lengthy route closures. Rail freight is not being included in the BSWAG, and the German rail freight sector will therefore likely not be…
PKP Cargo and COSCO to expand intermodal flows all over Europe
Intermodal transport and logistics will be the core development pillar of a strengthened partnership between PKP Cargo and COSCO Shipping Group. The two parties are poised to expand their intermodal offerings in multiple countries “in Western, Central and Eastern Europe”. PKP Cargo appears to become a core partner in COSCO’s increased rail freight presence in…