New Eurasian overland shuttle launched 
The Russian Transport Group Fesco is launching Silkway Amber – a regular container train going from Zhengzhou (China, Henan province) to Hamburg (Germany) through Kaliningrad (Russia) and back. The route goes through the border crossings of Erlian/Zamyn-Uud/Naushki... more
First Alibaba train completes China-Belgium journey
The first Alibaba freight train from eastern China’s Yiwu arrived in Liege, Belgium, after a 17-day journey. The train was loaded with 82 containers and passed through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland and Germany on its journey to Belgium. It represents a new freight... more
120 tank cars to carry sulphur
The Russian manufacturer United Wagon Company (UWC) and Gazpromtrans (a 100% subsidiary of Gazprom) have signed an agreement for the supply of 120 tank cars for transportation of molten sulphur. The parties already signed a contract for delivery of 60 tank cars in August... more
Six more sites have rail hub potential
Six new industrial locations have been awarded the BNSF railway company’s certified sites designation. Four of the new certified sites are the first for their state in Arizona, Minnesota, Mississippi and Missouri. Two new Illinois certified sites bring the state’s total count to... more
Metrans to expand its Linz service
Following the export connection with the Slovenian port of Koper and the import link with northern ports, Metrans will also expand its Linz service with an export train link from the Austrian terminal Linz to the German northern ports of Hamburg and Bremerhaven from 13 December... more
Russian Railways to work with Cargo Beamer
Russian Railways (RZD) and Cargo Beamer have signed a memorandum of cooperation to develop joint rail services between Europe and China and create new logistics products in Russia using Cargo Beamer technology. The technology is designed for piggybacking – carrying trailers... more
The first of 280 digital interlocking systems goes online
Train traffic on Germany’s 33,400 km long rail network will be controlled by 280 digital interlocking systems (DSTWs) in future. In the coming years, high-tech systems will gradually replace more than 2,600 interlocking boxes of various designs of various ages. Some of them were... more
Disaster response resources for short lines in place
“Short lines need to be thinking through disaster preparation, response, mitigation and resiliency on the calm days so that they’re ready to respond in a crisis,” says the American short line and regional railroad association (ASLRRA). Therefore, the association has... more
US short line railroad deploys PTC
Illinois Railway (IR) is one of the first US short line railroads to implement fully functional positive train control (PTC) and enable state-of-the-art safety on its trains, according to Omnitrax that operates the line. The IR has installed PTC equipment on three locomotives... more
First Baltic LNG locomotives to run next summer
Estonian freight carrier Operail has entered into a cooperation agreement with the Latvian company DiGas to develop the first cargo-carrying LNG freight locomotive in the Baltics region. Previously, the gas technology was tested and used on shunting locomotives. Adding the... more