Oslo – Haifa in 14 instead of 30 days 
An interesting new rail alliance has been formed: Loconi, which operates five weekly container trains between Gdynia and Wrocław (both in Poland), and Baltic Rail, which runs three – five weekly trains between Wrocław and Koper (Slovenia), have launched a combined intermodal... more
Turning steel works into rail hub
UK carrier GB Railfreight (GBRF) recently operated the first loaded freight service from Stanton Gate since 2009 on behalf of Ward. GBRF reacted to a late notice demand from Ward and was asked to transport in excess of 1,400 t of fragmented steel to Immingham Dock. Previous... more
35 new wood chip wagons
VR Group’s Russian subsidiary Finnlog is expanding its rapidly growing operations. The company’s 35 new wagons will be deployed to import wood chips from Russia to the Metsä Group pulp mill in Joutseno, Finland. Finnlog specialises in wagon operating services in eastern... more
Modern tolling system for Louisiana
Plenary Infrastructure Group has contracted Austrian traffic technologist Kapsch TrafficCom to implement a new tolling system in the USA. The Louisiana Highway (LA-1) project launched by Louisiana’s department of transportation and development complements an existing contract.... more
700 t CO2 less
In Austria, ÖBB Rail Cargo Group (RCG) has extended its carriage contract with wood-based materials manufacturer Egger until 2024. Over the next three years, RCG will transport around 90,000 t of glue and other chemical raw materials for chipboard production to the... more
New locomotive pulls 7,100 t
Sinara and the Russian Railways (RZD) have agreed on supplying 2TE5A mainline freight two-sectioned diesel locomotives with asynchronous traction drive. The agreement envisages the production and delivery of 200 2TE35A diesel locomotives by 2031 and the construction of... more
Fuel cell trucks for emission-free fleet
In Germany, the Esslingen district in Baden-Württemberg has commissioned EFA-S, a specialist for new and converted e-transporters, to build two trucks with fuel cell technology. In addition to a battery, the vehicles have hydrogen tanks and a fuel cell that converts the... more
No noisy wagons from abroad
In Germany, noise pollution caused by railfreight traffic dropped by about five decibels in 2020 compared to the previous year, as a report released by the federal railway authority shows. The reduction in rail noise is primarily due to the conversion of freight wagons to... more
Switzerland's worst railway accident
Not far from the ITJ headquarters in Basel is the site where, 130 years ago today, on 14 June 1891, Switzerland's worst train accident in terms of casualties (73 dead and 171 injured) occurred. A bridge designed in 1875 by the French engineer Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923) over the... more
Azerbaijan carrier running regularly to Georgia
Ady Express has started transporting another cargo category along international transport corridors that pass through Azerbaijan. Thanks to a cooperation with the Russia-based Mechel Group, which produced 3.7 million t of steel and 3.5 million t of pig iron in 2020, Ady Express... more