The French government announced the cancellation of 10 billion euros that were supposed to be invested throughout the country in 2024. The infrastructure and transport sectors will see their budget decrease by over 341 million euros. This sum, according to French media outlet Maire Info, equals 7 per cent of the total budget previously allocated […]
Author: Marco Raimondi
Rail freight in Italy set back in 2023, subsidies are key to remain afloat
The Italian rail freight sector had to deal with various hiccups throughout 2023 which led to a general drop across the whole industry. RailFreight.com had a chat with Giuseppe Rizzi, managing director of Italy’s largest rail freight association FerMerci to better understand this trend and the causes behind it. “There seems to be a lack […]
Another derailment along the Iron Ore Line, this time it may be sabotage
The Iron Ore Line, Europe’s northernmost rail border crossing connecting Sweden and Norway, is again closed due to a freight train derailment near Vassijaure. The line had just been reopened last week after another derailment took place near the same area in December. According to the Swedish police, the latest derailment is being treated as […]
Upgrade of Hupac’s terminal in Piacenza to be completed by 2025
The Piacenza Intermodal Terminal, located 50 kilometres south of Milan and managed by Hupac, will almost triple the number of containers handled by train by 2025. The facility is currently undergoing a major refurbishment to embrace the modal shift from road to rail. The project entails the expansion of the terminal, which will go from […]
CFL cargo: new CEO brings good news despite ‘difficult year’
CFL cargo, the international rail freight company in Luxembourg and sister company to the CFL multimodal group, recently had a change of heads with Sébastien Hoffmann taking over the role of CEO from Laurence Zenner. RailFreight.com had an exclusive interview with M. Hoffmann to better understand what 2023 looked like and what can be expected […]
Swiss underground rail freight project enters audition phase
Cargo Sous Terrain (CST), a Swiss project to implement an underground freight-dedicated rail network is now entering a new phase. The Swiss Federal Offices of Transport and Territorial Development opened the audition period, during which the parties involved can submit their views on the project. Starting from 1 February, the Swiss cantons under which CST’s […]
Spain starts 2024 strong with TEN-T developments
The Spanish integration of EU railway standards and the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) is taking shape. The year started with some significant developments for rail freight, mostly regarding the Mediterranean and the Atlantic TEN-T corridors running through the country. In the context of the Mediterranean Corridor, the extension of various sidings to handle longer convoys […]
Rail Cargo Group launches Linz-Duisburg-Rotterdam connection
The Austrian national rail freight operator Rail Cargo Group (RCG) is implementing a new TransFER connection between Linz, Duisburg and Rotterdam. The new link can be seen as an extension of the Linz-Wels-Duisburg RCG connection. This, as the company pointed out, will create a direct link stretching from Austria to the Netherlands. The service will […]
The Port of Trieste gains rail infrastructure manager status
The Eastern Adriatic Sea Port Authority, which manages Italy’s largest port in Trieste, was awarded the status of rail infrastructure manager from the National Agency for Railway and Road Infrastructure Safety (ANSFISA). With the new certification, which is a first-of-its-kind for an Italian port, the Authority can now manage the infrastructure of the whole facility. […]
Who stands to benefit from the Weights and Dimensions Directive?
The Weights and Dimensions Directive (WDD) is one of the pillars of the Greening Freight Package (GFP), a bundle of measures proposed by the European Union to make all modes of transport more sustainable. However, finding a solution that satisfies all the parties involved seems to remain a Herculean task, as none of the various […]