World rail freight news round-up
2017-03-06 16:47:00February 22 saw the start of a weekly service carrying cars between Valladolid in Spain and Vale de Rosa near Setúbal in Portugal. Traction is provided by Comsa is Spain and Takargo in Portugal, with specialist rolling stock provided by Pecovasa in which Comsa and Spanish national operator RENFE are shareholders.
The Scottish Government has produced 'Delivering Your Goods' to promote the use of rail freight to companies and public sector organisations. 'This electronic guide aims to give a short introduction to rail freight, an accessible snapshot of some goods currently moved by rail, case studies of rail's flexibility and service excellence including maps showing its prominence in the supply chain', said Transport Minister Humza Yousaf. 'It is a real introduction to rail freight and importantly gives details of the financial support available.'
On January 20 the Etihad Rail DB joint venture of Etihad Rail and DB Cargo which operates and maintains Stage One of the UAE's railway network ran its 1 000th train since the official start of commercial operations in January 2016. More than 20 000 tonnes/day of granulated sulphur is carried from the gas fields of Shah and Habshan to the port of Ruwais.
CZ Loko has supplied two Class 744.7 diesel-electric locos to Turkish steel producer Erdemir’s Ere?li steelworks on the Black Sea coast. The Bo-Bo locos are powered by a Caterpillar 3508C engine rated at 1 MW with Siemens AC/DC transmission and electronic controls by MSV Elektronika allowing multiple operation.
BLS Cargo has begun operating a twice-weekly intermodal service between Frenkendorf near Basel and Domat/Ems near Chur on behalf of Kuehne + Nagel.