Rail Baltica is an economically viable undertaking. While its projected cost has grown immensely in recent years, the high-speed rail line is expected to contribute up to 23,5 billion euros to the Baltic economies. Freight, however, is not likely to contribute much. An independent cost-benefit analysis (CBA) found that Rail Baltica will likely add between…
Category: Rail freight
Political parties weigh anchor on rail freight from Suffolk ports
Rail freight from Felixstowe may not be the defining issue of the forthcoming UK General Election. However, the broader question of rail freight development is on the agenda of all the major political parties. With less than a month until the UK goes to the polls, the level of traffic in the east of England…
Amid looming threat of Polish border blockades, UZ asks: Why not rail?
The threat of Polish-Ukrainian border blockades is systemic. As road blockades can resume at any time, Ukrainian Railways (UZ) is now asking: Why not ship goods via rail? UZ is proposing that more Ukrainian export freight be transported via rail. The operator says that it received warnings that the frequent border blockades are systemic, and…
INSTC takes up role as energy corridor: Russian coal to head to India
Russia is planning to ship coal to India along the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC). India has long been interested in establishing trade with Russia along the corridor, and cooperated with Iran for that purpose. The collaboration is now bearing fruit, as the INSTC is taking up its role as an energy corridor between Russia…
Maritime Transport stacks the intermodal racks with new reachers
UK-based Maritime Transport has stepped up its game in handling integrated road and rail freight logistics. The Felixstowe-headquartered company has gone large with an order of 14 new reach stackers from manufacturers Kalmar and SANY. The 8 million euro investment will facilitate what the company identifies as the growing demand for rail freight services and…
Poor reliability of Russian rail network pushes shippers onto trucks
Much like the rail and road modalities are clashing in Europe, with the ensuing discussions about rail’s competitiveness, Russia is having similar issues. A recent conference on the topic prompted a sector appeal to the government. The Russian rail freight sector protests the order of priority on the Russian network, on which freight takes last…
Estonian Operail to be auctioned off and privatised
Operail, the Estonian state-owned rail freight operator, is for sale. On 6 June, the government approved the imminent privatisation of the company. It has struggled to maintain profitability following sanctions against Russia and Belarus. Operail is now being auctioned off completely. The Estonian climate ministry had made a proposal to that end, which the government…
Passenger rail to be restored first amid German floods
Floods have engulfed southern Germany during the past week. Rail infrastructure has not been spared by the water. It has caused major disruptions to rail transportation in the region. DB InfraGO says that the priority is now on fixing passenger rail. As floods in southern Germany are causing major disruptions on the rail network, DB…
UK rail freight volumes slightly down for the quarter
Official statistics published today (6 June) by the Office of Rail and Road show that UK rail freight took a slight dip, year on year, in the last quarter (to March 2024). Nevertheless, containers and construction traffic are still, by far, the dominant sectors. The two sectors account for around two-thirds of all freight “net…
RCG’s new Serbian subsidiary to start operations in “the upcoming months”
ÖBB’s cargo subsidiary Rail Cargo Group (RCG) is creating a joint venture with Serbian logistics company Transfera. The enterprise will be headquartered in Belgrade and initially focus on intermodal transport. RCG and Transfera, a Serbian company that organises transportation across various modalities, have signed a partnership agreement for the establishment of a joint venture. Together,…