New York’s shortline railway under new management 
The 80 km long Ithaca Central Railroad (ITHR), running from Sayre PA to Ludlowville NY, recently started operations. Manager Watco leases the US railroad from Norfolk Southern Railway (NS). The ITHR, which interchanges with NS at Sayre, will ship approximately 12,000 carloads... more
Delivery speed and transport costs drive traffic volume
According to the Russia-based United Transport and Logistics Company - Eurasian Railway Alliance (UTLC ERA), its 2018 traffic volume rose to between 275,000 and 280,000 teu, 60% more than the 175,800 teu in 2017. UTLC ERA expects to transport about 350,000 teu this year. In... more
60 new tractors for long-distance haulage
For the first time in its history, the German forwarding company Hegelmann is putting 60 new DAF XF tractors into service. The vehicles will be used to operate long-distance, cross border transport services. A batch of 19 tractors has already been delivered and they are... more
First new locomotive runs along Baku-Tbilisi-Kars line
Alstom has delivered the first of the 40 Prima T8 AZ8A freight locomotives to Azerbaijan Railways (ADY), which will operate the units on the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars regional line. The locomotive, produced at EKZ, a joint venture between Alstom and Transmashholding in Kazakhstan,... more
Coal rich region Xinjiang gets new rail service
China Railway Urumqi Group has established the Lanzhou-Xinjiang railway that connects the coal-rich northeast Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in northwest China with wider areas in the east. The first train, carrying 3,700 t of coal, ran along the 435.6 km track in week... more
More autonomous trucks on trial in Australian mine
Scania is testing a new generation autonomous transport system at Rio Tinto’s Dampier Salt operations in Western Australia. The first phase of the trial started in August 2018 and involves a Scania XT 8×4 autonomous tipper truck working separately from Dampier’s active... more
Balkan rail upgrade progressing
The modernisation of FYR Macedonia’s railway infrastructure will be able to make more progress. The EU has signed a grant agreement for a further EUR 68.6 million with Macedonian railway. The money will be used to co-finance the construction of 34 km of the rail network from... more
PD Ports: Short sighted vision threatens UK’s growth
PD Ports has criticised the UK government’s decision to make no provision for freight for the planned GBP 3 billion (EUR 3.3 billion) trans-Pennine rail upgrade between Leeds and Manchester. The reported decision is both unwelcome and deeply troubling for the economy and... more
New container train for hinterland traffic in Germany
ERS Railways is introducing a new direct, twice weekly intermodal service in Germany with effect from 12 January. The domestic shuttle service will run between the port of Hamburg and Singen close to the German-Swiss border. The train will haul import and export containers.... more
New IT system for Bremen port railway
The port of Bremen’s railway is to get a new modular IT system that will optimize train and wagon movement planning and scheduling. From autumn 2020, users will be able to use a customer portal to obtain information about port railway operations, record and track orders, as... more