Quiet brakes for 30,000 wagons 
VTG has refurbished all the rail wagons it deploys in Germany and Switzerland with so-called quiet brake blocks. Now only composite or disk brakes will be used. After several years of work, the conversion programme will be concluded in time for the change of timetable on 13... more
African locomotives transport 10 million t
Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) awarded Bombardier the contract to supply 240 electric locomotives in March 2014. Since then, Bombardier has been delivering the Traxx locomotives to Transnet as part of South Africa’s rail modernisation plan. Furthermore, on-site manufacturing is... more
Norway: new terminal to shift 400 trucks to rail
Norway’s first emission-free freight terminal will open in 2024. This could mean 400 fewer trucks in the centre of Bergen every day, the Norwegian infrastructure manager Bane NOR said. Today, goods arrive at Nygardstangen both on rails and by truck. This will come to an end... more
Railfreight the winner 
The Principality of Liechtenstein is one of the European regions afflicted by road congestion, which also impedes goods transport activities. Besides ‘intelligent roads’, rail is also expected to alleviate the situation. Thus ÖBB has upped freight train frequencies. more
South-North intermodal service introduced
P&O Ferrymasters has launched a new multimodal service from Italy to Norway, offering businesses more options to transport their time-sensitive and valuable goods from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia. The service includes rail links between the main rail terminals in... more
Three more electric locomotives for lease
Northrail, a lessor and asset manager for locomotives and rail wagons for the German Paribus group, has ordered three more Siemens Smartron locomotives, bringing the number of such vehicles in its portfolio up to 14. The newly ordered electric locomotives will be available... more
French carrier promotes road-to-rail shift
Fret SNCF will use the Gurobi Optimizer as the engine of its new, end-to-end freight train planning solution. With this integrated, automated planning platform, the French railfreight carrier will be able to maximise resource utilisation, minimise costs and improve service... more
Bosch adds parking facility near Paris
Bosch Secure Truck Parking, the digital booking platform for truck parking spaces, is expanding its footprint in Europe. After opening its first French site in Calais, it has now added another facility in Tournan en Brie near Paris, where freight forwarders can digitally reserve... more
Melnik re-joins Koper’s intermodal network
In cooperation with PKP Cargo International, Maersk has started a new rail connection between Port of Koper in Slovenia and the terminal in Melnik, about 40 km north of Prague in Czechia. The service re-opens opportunities, especially for the Bohemian part of Czechia, to... more
RTB Cargo adds four more locomotives
RTB Cargo is leasing four Euro 9000 locomotives from European Loc Pool. The multi-system locomotives with a diesel power unit of 1.9 MW and an electric power unit of 9 MW under the overhead line are ideal for traffic on the European corridors that are used by RTB Cargo. They... more