Rail News

Slow-steaming by shipping lines, the shift of production centers in China inland and the easing of customs barriers in Eastern Europe are rapidly opening up overland transport routes between Asia and Europe.

Freightliner, the United Kingdom’s second largest rail freight operator, today announced its acquisition of ERS Railways, the pan-European intermodal rail company, from ocean carrier Maersk Line.

The South Carolina Ports Authority board of directors approved its fiscal year 2014 plan, which includes volume increases across business segments and $123 million in capital spending on a number of projects.

Deutsche Bahn and Bombardier Transportation have signed a frame contract for the delivery of up to 450 electric locomotives by the year 2020.

The new Canadian National-Indiana Rail Road intermodal service to Indianapolis will offer export “matchback” opportunities for steamship lines and shippers when it launches on July 1.

Indian Railways reported its revenue from April 1 to May 31, 2013, was Rs. 22,439.30 crore (about US$3.9 billion), increasing 12.7 percent from $3.4 billion during the corresponding period last year.

AECOM Technology Corp. has won a $148 million, three-year contract to provide construction supervision and design review services for the portion of the Doha Expressway program in Qatar known as Group 7.

North American truckload pricing in May increased 1.4 percent from the same month in 2012, but fell 2.4 percent from April, according to the Cass Truckload Linehaul Index.

Norfolk Southern has officially unveiled its Franklin County Regional Intermodal Facility in Pennsylvania.

The Railway Association of Canada has applauded the Transportation Safety Board of Canada’s request for installation of in-cab video cameras and voice recorders in all mainline controlling locomotives in the nation.

Train passengers and the family of one of the three engineers who died in last year’s VIA Rail derailment in Burlington, Ontario, are joining the Transportation Safety Board of Canada’s call for improvements in rail technology.

Class 1 railroads are making a big push to convert over-the-road freight to intermodal, and for CSX Intermodal, its 2-year-old Northwest Ohio hub is proving to be a force multiplier in that strategy.

The China Railway Corp., a spinoff of China’s former Ministry of Railways, has launched a new express cargo service to allow it to better compete in the logistics market, Global Times reports.

John Spencer, chairman of KiwiRail, along with the KiwiRail’s board, have announced that they will not renew KiwiRail Chief Executive Jim Quinn’s five-year contract when it expires in February 2014.

The European Commission’s Transport Council has plans to introduce a single European authority for placing railway vehicles in the European Union market and reinforce the central role of the European Railway Agency.

Six trucking companies have sued Los Angeles and the Port of Los Angeles Harbor Commission to block the construction of a recently approved $500 million railyard near the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex.

A consortium of Japanese conglomerate Sojitz Corp. and domestic infrastructure major Larsen and Toubro has won a contract to develop the first phase of India’s long-planned rail freight corridor between Delhi and Mumbai.

A study by the nation’s Advisory Council on Rail Safety’s Working Group on Locomotive Voice and Video Recorders calls for the voluntary installation of voice and video recording devices on locomotives by railway companies.

The Dow Chemical Co. and Union Pacific have released a report on the progress of their memorandum of cooperation that began in 2007 to improve rail safety and security.

The Port of New York and New Jersey and Norfolk Southern are discussing the possibility of making an intermodal railyard in Bethlehem, Pa., an inland port, The Morning Call reports.

ACF Industries has reopened its rail car manufacturing plant in Milton, Pa., after it was closed in 2009 because of declining sales.

Textainer Group Holdings and Trifleet Leasing have signed an agreement under which Textainer will invest in new intermodal tank carriers to be managed by Trifleet, marking Textainer’s entry into the tank container market.

Watco Companies has named Matt McKenzie as executive vice president and CFO.

Union Pacific Railroad has started work on a $20 million project that will improve the rail line between Chester and near Scott City, Mo.

Westport Innovations has received an order for four liquefied natural gas tenders from Canadian National Railway.

A new intermodal terminal in Perron Industrial Park in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec, is moving forward, following a groundbreaking ceremony.

The Railway Association of Canada and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities have unveiled land use guidelines and a website intended to promote best practices and awareness about the issues...

Fesco’s first quarter profit dipped 3.8 percent from a year earlier as the Russian shipping, port, rail freight and logistics group sold almost half of its vessels.

A Department of Transportation study on the ramifications of allowing heavier and bigger trucks won’t likely end the decades-long debate over the issue, but it could provide Congress with a more definitive roadmap.

Shippers reluctant to jump into intermodal rail transport have a major incentive to test the waters: relatively low intermodal rates with few signs on the horizon for aggressive hikes.

ART Logistics has launched a multimodal freight service connecting Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand with Central Asia.

Aberdeen Carolina & Western Railway, based in Star, N.C., is in the process of developing a multimodal facility and business park in Midland, N.C., according to Cabarrus Economic Development.

Norfolk Southern is rerouting shipments that normally move through Hannibal, Mo., as rising Mississippi River levels have impacted bridge and main line operations in that area.

Canada’s House of Commons is set to vote this afternoon on a bill requiring service contracts between railroads and their customers.

Canadian National Railway is accelerating work on the $33 million upgrade of its Whitehall Subdivision in Wisconsin, which will increase car loading capacity and train velocity for the frac sand supply chains of...

Ray LaHood, secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, has assigned $10.9 million, via a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant, to the City of West Memphis, Ark., to expand the city’s ports.

A CSX freight train derailed this afternoon in the White Marsh, Md., area in Baltimore County, sparking a fire and causing buildings to collapse, Reuters reports.

Russian rail freight operator Globaltrans denied reports it is negotiating a merger with domestic rival Nefte TransService.