Medway, MSC’s rail freight subsidiary, will soon start operating three intermodal terminals in the Spanish region of Extremadura, near the border with Portugal. The three facilities are Badajoz, Mérida, Navalmoral de la Mata. The three terminals are all expected to commence operations between October 2024 and March 2025, as Spanish media El Mercantil mentioned. The…
Author: Marco Raimondi
Ten rail associations ask the EU Commission to postpone TSI revision
The European Commission (EC) is planning another extensive revision of the package of the Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI) in 2026/2027. However, ten European rail associations came together to ask the EC to rethink its plan and wait for an extensive TSI revision until 2030. One of the main reasons for this request is that…
Rail freight in Poland keeps decreasing
Rail freight in Poland in 2023 experienced a minor setback both in terms of volumes and performance. Compared to 2022, volumes dropped by 6.8 per cent, while tonne-kilometres performance decreased by 1.4 per cent, as the Polish Office of Rail Transport (UTK) stated. In more concrete numbers, the tonnes transported went from 248,5 to 231,6…
Rail freight in Poland keeps decreasing
Rail freight in Poland in 2023 experienced a minor setback both in terms of volumes and performance. Compared to 2022, volumes dropped by 6.8 per cent, while tonne-kilometres performance decreased by 1.4 per cent, as the Polish Office of Rail Transport (UTK) stated. In more concrete numbers, the tonnes transported went from 248,5 to 231,6…
Switzerland joins the club of countries increasing TACs
The Swiss Federal Office of Transport (FOT) said that Track Access Charges (TACs) in the country will increase by 2.1 per cent as of 1 January 2025. The figure chosen by the FOT was established to be as moderate as possible, taking into account the worries expressed by the sector. For the rail freight sector…
Shortlist for DB Schenker’s buyers to be ready next week
Deutsche Bahn (DB) has received the first confirmatory bids for the sale of its logistics arm DB Schenker. Some of the companies that presented an offer include DSV, Maersk and MSC. Morevoer, equity firms such as CVC Capital Partners and Carlyle Group confirmed their bid of around 14 billion euros. This new step comes after…
Surprise, surprise: TACs in Hungary are about to rise
Hungary will increase its Track Access Charges (TAC) by 14 per cent from 1 September 2024. This is the first time in two decades that TACs in the country have been increased in the middle of a year, as Hungarian rail association Hungrail pointed out. “The increase will most likely cause more damage to the…
Key freight line in Norway reopens after nine months
After nine months, freight trains in Norway are running again along the Dovre Line, which stretches for roughly 500 kilometres between Eidsvoll and Trondheim. The railway has been closed since August 2023, when the Randklev Bridge, near Ringebu, collapsed due to bad weather. The first freight train, operated by OnRail, crossed the bridge on Monday…
EU Commission approves German rail freight scheme for 1.7 billion euros
The European Commission (EC) approved a scheme for 1.7 billion euros to support single wagonload and wagon group transport in Germany until 2029. “The maximum annual budget amounts to €320 million”, the EC specified. The measure aims at ensuring that these types of transport and the companies operating them do not cease to exist due…
‘Our situation is worse than I thought’, says PKP Cargo President
The Polish state-owned rail operator, PKP Cargo, might be nearing the end of its life due to years of mismanagement and the inability to adapt to a changing market. The current Acting President of the company, Marcin Wojewódka, said that the situation is worse than expected, with both volumes and share values dropping significantly and…