The Polish rail Infrastructure Manager PKP PLK will invest over a billion euros in rail infrastructure. The operator signed contracts for rail upgrades in the country’s southern region of Silesia. With the investments, Poland hopes to reduce traffic congestion and improve connectivity on TEN-T corridors. PKP PLK signed two contracts with a value of over…
Category: Rail freight
Freightliner chief says get costs down for sake of environment
Tim Shoveller, the chief executive of Genesee and Wyoming UK and Europe, less tongue twistingly branded as Freightliner, has bemoaned the rising cost of operating rail freight in the face of environmental issues. On the first anniversary of his appointment, the former Network Rail boss has called out the widening gap between the costs of…
North-South Europe fresh produce train may start trial in late 2024
A new rail freight route carrying fresh produce will start a pilot in late 2024. On a weekly basis, a train will make a return trip between Oslo and Valencia. The train will save time and emissions, but faces bureaucratic hurdles. Frederik Zevenbergen, a representative of the Dutch province of Zuid-Holland, presented the plan at…
Ukrainian Railways is planning to launch 18 new European routes
Ukrainian Railways is planning to launch 18 new routes to European countries. Additionally, the company will seek to restore and build new multimodal container terminals throughout Ukraine. The company’s board chairman, Yevhen Lyashchenko, made the announcement during a briefing in early April. Ukrainian Railways will present the routes in September 2024. Lyashchenko states that the…
China-EU freight through Russia nearly back at pre-war levels
Rail freight transit through Russia to the EU is nearly back at its pre-war level. As Houthi attacks endanger shipping on the Red Sea, shippers are looking for alternative routes. Consequently, the volume of China-EU freight that travels via Russian rail grew by 44 per cent in 2024. According to Russian media, the volume of…
Czechia warns: Russia is trying to sabotage European rail
The Czech transport minister has warned that Russia is trying to sabotage European rail. The minister said that Russia has made thousands of attempts to destabilise the EU and undermine critical infrastructure since the start of its war in Ukraine. It is not the first time a European official warned of Russian sabotage. Czech transport…
GBRf Southampton to Hams Hall service begins today
GB Railfreight is making good on its promise to introduce a raft of new services and expand its operations. The company inaugurated a new Southampton Docks to Birmingham Hams Hall intermodal service today, Monday, 8 April, operating daily from the south coast port. The service falls within the distance limit to qualify for the DP…
Operail Finland sale was 12 million euro “gift” to Finnish business
Estonia lost 12,3 million euros with the sale of the Finnish branch of Operail. Last year, it sold Operail Finland, the former name of the subsidiary, to Nurminen Logistics. Estonia sold the subsidiary at a price below its fair value, leading to allegations of a secret sale. As part of the privatisation of Operail, Estonia…
Derailment makes triple Friday headache for British network
A triumvirate of deep depressions hit British railways on Friday. Commuters into London Paddington and airline travellers heading for Heathrow were grounded by a freight train derailment just after sunrise. In addition, pickets were on duty at Euston and elsewhere, in pursuit of the latest strike by drivers. To cap it all, there was a…
Russian rail exports of petrol halved following embargo
Russian exports of petrol via rail have been halved in March. The export reduction follows an embargo that the Kremlin introduced. It implemented the embargo to curb domestic fuel shortages. Russia introduced a fuel export ban on 1 March. The ban aims to mitigate the country’s ongoing fuel shortage, which has led to rising prices.…