Despite being one of the countries with the lower track access charges for rail freight in Europe, Spain is implementing a new scheme to supervise the fees adopted by the country’s infrastructure manager Adif. The new plan was recently approved by the Spanish National Market and Competition Commission (CNMC). If for rail freight the track…
Author: Marco Raimondi
Switzerland to invest in CargoBeamer’s Domodossola terminal
The Swiss Federal Office of Transport (FOT) will invest 38,8 million francs (39.5 million euros) to build a transshipment facility in Domodossola, one of the most active rail freight hubs in Italy. The facility in Domodossola is currently managed by CargoBeamer, a German specialist in the transportation of non-cranable semi-trailers. The FOT said that the…
French rail cooperative Railcoop to be dissolved next week
After five years of struggles to remain financially viable, French rail cooperative Railcoop will come to an end next week. The Cahors Commercial Court shall decide the future of Railcoop on Monday 15 April, and all signs point to liquidation. The cooperative was put under receivership by the Cahors Commercial Court at the end of…
Amazon onboards Mercitalia trains between Italy-Germany
Amazon signed an agreement with the Italian state-owned rail freight group Mercitalia. The contract envisioned the rail transportation of goods between Amazon’s distribution centres in Italy and Germany. The two routes selected start are Pomezia-Duisburg and Verona-Herne. The e-commerce giant has distribution centres in all four locations involved in the initiative. For the Pomezia-Duisburg itinerary,…
Audi and Helrom put more car parts on the rail
Audi partnered with non-cranable semi-trailer specialist Helrom to supply three car manufacturing sites by rail. Two sites are in Germany, in Neckarsulm and Ingolstadt, while the third one is in Győr, in Hungary. The first block train was deployed on 4 April, as Helrom pointed out. All three destinations are located along the Regensburg (DE)…
CMA CGM and GTS Rail go international with new joint venture
French shipping giant CMA CGM and Italian rail freight operator GTS Rail are establishing a new joint venture (JV) called European Container Network to take their collaboration to an international level. The two companies are already cooperating in Italy, especially from the port of Genoa. With this new initiative, GTS Rail aims to expand its…
French first and last-mile operators need state aid to survive Frejus closure
The impact of the closure of the Frejus Railway, the main border crossing between Italy and France, is being felt not only by the rail freight sector. Many first and last-mile companies in France, for example, are asking for state support to remain afloat but the scenario seems to remain gloomy. For example, operations at…
Projects for standard gauge in Spain get going north and south
The Spanish Ministry of Transport (MITMA) recently assigned contracts for the implementation of the standard gauge (1435mm) in key rail freight locations. The projects concern the area of Valladolid in the north and the Bobadilla-Algeciras railway in the south. The Bobadilla-Algeciras line is a starting point for both the TEN-T Atlantic and Mediterranean corridors. Algeciras…
Switzerland asks ERA to update EU contract on the use of freight wagons
In the European Union, the use and maintenance of rail freight wagons is regulated by two directives, one from 2006 for their use and one from 2019 for their maintenance. The Swiss Federal Office of Transport (FOT) is asking the European Railway Agency (ERA) to make a clear statement for the revision of the oldest…
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.…