Jeremy Hunt delivered a budget speech last week. It may be his last. it’s not because the rail freight sector has put out a contract on the UK Chancellor. However, there may well be an election before he has another opportunity to deliver some solace for the sector. A budget speech may not be the […]
Category: Rail freight
Ukraine starts building intermodal terminal near Romanian border
Construction is underway for a new intermodal terminal in western Ukraine near the border of Romania. The terminal will facilitate freight transfers between trains, gauge changes as well as road-to-rail and vice versa. Its aim is to improve logistical connectivity between Ukraine and EU countries. The terminal is being built in Hlyboka, close to the […]
More GDL strikes will come, but no date has been set yet
A solution to the dispute between Deutsche Bahn (DB) and the German Union of Train Drivers (GDL) still seems unattainable after roughly five months of negotiations. Another round of strikes is in the books, but more are on the horizon, as GDL’s boss Claus Weselsky pointed out. During a video interview with German media outlet […]
Russia hoping to use INSTC to evade sanctions, says think tank
According to the US-based think tank The Jamestown Foundation, Russia hopes to use the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) as a way to evade Western sanctions. The development of the corridor allows Russia to gain more open access to non-Western markets. Those could provide Russia with much-needed goods for its war economy. The INSTC is […]
Prospects for expanding the DP World Modal Shift Programme
Rail freight has been increasing its share at the Port of Southampton. The runaway success of the DP World Modal Shift Programme could claim to be largely responsible. The company has been applauded by the UK rail freight industry for the initiative. The wider logistics sector has cause to query the effects of a wider […]
After Germany, China is also planning to build a transport hub in Uzbekistan
China is planning to build a transport hub in Uzbekistan. The Chinese logistics company Shenzhen Neptune Logistics announced plans to contribute approximately fifteen million dollars to that end. It is not the first foreign company to take this step, as German company Rhenus earlier announced similar plans. The Chinese investments were announced at a meeting […]
German retailer Lidl to move into rail freight logistics this summer
Lidl is to move into rail freight with the creation of a new unit, Tailwind Intermodal. This unit will work closely with the German discount retailer’s in-house container shipping line while also offering its services to third parties. “As a sister company of Tailwind Shipping Lines, Tailwind Intermodal GmbH will organise and coordinate the inland […]
HS2 quantity at Quainton: 646 freight trains move a million tonnes
HS2, Britain’s high-speed rail project, is buried in statistics. However, there is one statistic that burrows its way out from all the others. 646 freight trains have delivered one million tonnes of construction materials to the HS2 construction site at Quainton, around fifty miles (80km) north of London Euston – or 45 miles north of […]
Kombiverkehr launches regular service between Rotterdam and Cologne-Eifeltor
German rail freight operator Kombiverkehr is launching a new service between Rotterdam and Cologne-Eifeltor. The service will run three times a week and is available for nearly all types of goods, except dangerous goods of class 7. The new route will launch on 12 March and allows for intermodal transport with P400 loading units. It […]
Varamis rolls into Liverpool Street
The UK express logistics boom continues. Independent carrier Varamis Rail has unveiled its fifth train, only weeks after adding a fourth electric multiple unit to its uniform fleet of repurposed passenger trains. Varamis Rail currently runs an overnight service, carrying parcels traffic, between Birmingham and Glasgow. The announcement of a fifth unit for the Varamis […]