Category: Rail freight

Russia to spend an additional trillion rubles on ‘Eastern Polygon’ lines

Russia will spend an additional one trillion rubles (10 billion euros) on the Trans-Siberian and Baikal-Amur railway lines. The extra financial injection is part of an infrastructure upgrade plan in Russia’s Far East. On 27 March, Russian Railways and the Russian transport ministry agreed on a framework for upgrades until 2035. The Russian transport ministry,…

Russian Railways’ revenue grows to 3 trillion rubles in 2023

Russian Railways’ (RZD) revenue has grown to 3 trillion rubles (30 billion euros) in 2023. This is an increase of 16 per cent. The growth in revenue is mostly driven by higher income from freight transportation and track access charges. RZD’s head presented last year’s financial data at a meeting with Russia’s transport ministry on…

RCG launches new connections to Germany and Turkey via Romania

Austrian rail freight operator Rail Cargo Group recently launched two new connections from Munich, in southern Germany, and from Tekirdag, in northwestern Turkey. The centre of this initiative is Curtici, in western Romania, as the two new services are Munich-Curtici and Curtici-Tekirdag. In other words, Curtici becomes the RCG gateway to connect Turkey and Germany.…

Rail industry lambasts DB’s largest ever track price increase programme

Deutsche Bahn’s intention to raise rail route prices in Germany has been faced with strong criticism. The planned increase would take effect from next year. It would be the largest price increase ever. Industry representatives like the German private rail association Die Güterbahnen have strongly denounced the plans.  The German Bundesnetzagentur has approved the application…

Kazakhstan cancels rail freight price hikes after business dismay

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…

UK Freight philanthropy: popular charity events return

British freight operators have a noble history of charity support. So it is with no small fanfare that Direct Rail Services has announced the return of its highly popular charity open day. The freight carrier is preparing to welcome a huge crowd of visitors to its Carlisle headquarters on Saturday, 6 July. Proceeds from expected…

Accident in Norway: ‘Some cargo will have to wait for the reopening of the line’

There currently is no rail freight traffic between Oslo and Bergen due to the recent derailment in Arna. “Some of the containers will just have to wait for the reopening of the line”, said a spokesperson from CargoNet, the rail freight operator most active on the route. The company usually runs six trains per direction…

Ukrainian iron ore exports through Polish border crossing up by 43%

Ukraine’s iron ore exports through the Polish Izov-Hrubieszów border crossing have grown by 43 per cent in March. Ukrainian Railways has observed a growing trend throughout 2024. Other types of goods saw their volumes decrease. According to Ukrainian Railways, the 43 per cent growth in iron ore exports amounts to an additional 63,7 wagons on…

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…