China is planning to build a transport hub in Uzbekistan. The Chinese logistics company Shenzhen Neptune Logistics announced plans to contribute approximately fifteen million dollars to that end. It is not the first foreign company to take this step, as German company Rhenus earlier announced similar plans. The Chinese investments were announced at a meeting […]
Category: Rail freight
German retailer Lidl to move into rail freight logistics this summer
Lidl is to move into rail freight with the creation of a new unit, Tailwind Intermodal. This unit will work closely with the German discount retailer’s in-house container shipping line while also offering its services to third parties. “As a sister company of Tailwind Shipping Lines, Tailwind Intermodal GmbH will organise and coordinate the inland […]
HS2 quantity at Quainton: 646 freight trains move a million tonnes
HS2, Britain’s high-speed rail project, is buried in statistics. However, there is one statistic that burrows its way out from all the others. 646 freight trains have delivered one million tonnes of construction materials to the HS2 construction site at Quainton, around fifty miles (80km) north of London Euston – or 45 miles north of […]
Kombiverkehr launches regular service between Rotterdam and Cologne-Eifeltor
German rail freight operator Kombiverkehr is launching a new service between Rotterdam and Cologne-Eifeltor. The service will run three times a week and is available for nearly all types of goods, except dangerous goods of class 7. The new route will launch on 12 March and allows for intermodal transport with P400 loading units. It […]
Varamis rolls into Liverpool Street
The UK express logistics boom continues. Independent carrier Varamis Rail has unveiled its fifth train, only weeks after adding a fourth electric multiple unit to its uniform fleet of repurposed passenger trains. Varamis Rail currently runs an overnight service, carrying parcels traffic, between Birmingham and Glasgow. The announcement of a fifth unit for the Varamis […]
Words versus reality: “The Dutch Second Chamber is being misled,” says head of rail organisation
On Friday 1 March, the Dutch state secretary for infrastructure addressed a wide range of rail freight policy issues in a letter to the lower house of parliament. While the letter presented some successes, not everyone is happy with its contents, or even its level of truthfulness. “The Second Chamber is being misled,” says Hans-Willem […]
German rail development indicates shifts in North Sea ports’ modal split
Container shipments via rail freight in Germany have showcased incredible growth between 2005 and 2022. Their transport volumes grew by an impressive 85.9 per cent in these 19 years, going from under 4.2 million TEUs in 2005 to roughly 7.7 million TEUs in 2022. Increased traffic to and from North Sea ports has contributed the […]
Scottish meeting has politics on the agenda for Rail Freight Group
This week, the rail freight industry in Scotland has the opportunity to air their views in the presence of the senior minister from the Scottish Government. The Rail Freight Group Scottish Conference will be addressed by Fiona Hyslop, the Transport Secretary at Holyrood. Secretary Hyslop will be laying out her vision for the industry as […]
Iron Ore Line to fully reopen this week after derailment
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 […]
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. […]