Heavier loads, greater pulling power. Weight for weight, the workhorse Class 66 diesel is already one fo the most powerful locomotives to have turned out on British rails. Now, DB Cargo UK has decided, enough is not enough. The Doncaster-based operator has gotten under the hood and pulled a few customising tricks out of the…
Category: Rail freight
CargoBeamer wants to build a terminal near German-Czech border
CargoBeamer, a German company specialised in the rail transport of non-cranable semi-trailers recently signed a Letter of Intent to launch the construction of a new terminal in Saxony, the German region bordering with Czechia. It needs to be mentioned that this project is still in its early stages, but there are various reasons behind it,…
Hannibal to launch new Italy-Hungary-Romania connection
Hannibal, the multimodal subsidiary of Contship, will launch a new rail freight service connecting Milan to Budapest and Curtici. The company expects to commence operations by the end of this year. The service will connect the Rail Hub Melzo, east of Milan, with the BILK terminal in Budapest and the Arad terminal in Curtici. The…
DB Cargo Scandinavia completes freight pilot to Danish port of Hirtshals
DB Cargo Scandinavia completed a freight train test to the northern Danish Port of Hirtshals on 2 May. The rail operator ran the test to demonstrate the feasibility of an intermodal freight route between continental Europe and Norway. As part of the “Green Jutland Corridor”, a green logistics project that aims to connect Norway, Sweden…
DB begins 1.6 billion euro expansion of Hanau-Gelnhausen line
In a bid to fortify the rail system in Hesse, Deutsche Bahn (DB) has embarked on a 1.6 billion euro project to expand the 23-kilometre-long Hanau–Gelnhausen line to four tracks. The initiative, aimed at enhancing both passenger and freight transportation, received its official commencement during an on-site gathering in Gelnhausen on Monday. The expansion, a…
The Middle Corridor remains too expensive as an alternative China-Europe route
The Middle Corridor, a multimodal China-Europe freight route through Central Asia, has garnered international interest as a potential alternative to transporting freight through Russia. Illustratively, the EU has allocated 10 billion euros for its development. The corridor remains too expensive to become a route of preference, explains Roland Verbraak, general manager of BTTMultimodalGroup. BTT, a…
Twenty years of EU membership: What has it brought Polish rail freight?
Poland, alongside nine other countries, has been a member of the European Union for 20 years. EU membership brought with it many investments, which also benefited Polish rail infrastructure. The 166 billion Polish złoty (27 billion euros) in investments have transformed Polish railways, says national rail operator PKP. PKP reviewed the contribution of “huge funds”…
Green light for near-billion rail and road investment in Barcelona port
Spain will invest 816 million euros in rail and road connections for the Port of Barcelona. The Spanish government, infrastructure manager Adif and the Barcelona port have come to an agreement that will allow the port to be connected to the TEN-T Mediterranean Corridor. The near-billion euro investment will enable the expansion and upgrading of…
ERFA: “EU’s Greening Freight Package lacks a coherent strategy”
The EU’s Greening Freight Package is the bloc’s flagship policy package for decarbonisation in the transport sector. It looks to decrease emissions in European transport by 90 per cent in 2050. However, the package is not all sunshine and rainbows. Many disagreements about its content remain and the future of the package depends on the…
‘Spain is light years away from reaching EU rail freight goals’
The market share of rail freight in Spain is currently at around 4 per cent. By 2030, the number should more than double and reach 10 per cent, as dictated by the European Union. However, these goals are still “light years away”, as the Spanish Ministry of Transport Oscar Puente claimed. The main issue seems…