Freight Tracks #17

RAILWAY NEWS: VaraRail, the UK’s first zero-emission rail service to launch in October 2022, has been given the green light by officials. support of the UK Government and Rail Delivery Group’s commitment to The has a the is to

Alltoo often, rail freight may feel it has been forgotten. This is understandable when the emphasis inside and outside the rail industry is very often focused on passenger needs. But we must not lose sight of the very important role that freight plays in our railways. That is why we have launched World Freight Train Day 2022 (WFTD).

If you had been alive two centuries ago in the third decade of the 19th century, you could have been at and witnessed the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) in 1825 in the North-East of England. Five years later, on the West Coast of England, you could also have been at the opening of the Liverpool and Man chester Railway (L&MR).

Railways have existed in some form since the 1550s, with the first examples being in mining areas of Germany, These pathways of wooden rails were known as ‘wagonways’. They were the beginning of modern rail transport. By the late 1700s, iron had replaced the wooden rails and wheels as wagonways evolved into ‘tramways’ or ‘plateways’ and became popular throughout Europe. Horses still pro vided real ‘horsepower’ for freight until steam-powered locomotives came into play in the early 1800s. It was at this time that the S&DR and L&MR opened.

When Freight Tracks was deciding the date of the launch of World Freight Train Day, the question arose as to what date to choose. The one thing the railway world does not lack is anniversaries. We took our time and eventually chose a date that represents a significant advance in the global rail industry – September 27 –which happens to be tomorrow.

September 27 1825 was a Tuesday and saw the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) that operated in North-East England until 1863.

It was world's first public railway to use steam locomotives. Its first line con nected collieries near Shildon with the towns of Darlington and Stockton-onTees in County Durham. The movement of coal to ships rapidly became a lucrative business, and the line was soon extended to a newly-created port at Middlesbrough. While coal waggons were hauled by steam locomotives from the start, passengers were carried in coaches drawn by horses until carriages hauled by steam locomotives were introduced in 1833.

Two centuries

The modern freight railway owes so much to the Stockton & Darlington Railway. The S&DR was not the first railway and a train had previously carried passengers, but the

S&DR opening in 1825 was seen as proof of the effectiveness of steam railways as a means of the public transport.of freight, in this case coal for export and distribution by coastal shipping to the rest of the United Kingdom.

From the very beginning, a railway was about commerce. It was about moving raw materials, fuel, finished manufactured products and agricultural produce to market.

much of the moment but no less valid for that.

Rail freight companies can look to open their terminals, invite in local populations, including school children, into their facilities. Many parts of the rail network in 2022 never see freight trains.

World Freight Train Day 2022

As this is the first iteration of WFTD, there has been a soft launch of the idea.

However, we wanted to plant our flag on the rail freight industry in 2022, six months after our February launch. This does not mean we are any less enthusiastic about the idea.

So what can Freight Tracks readers do to help mark WFTD? For a start, rail freight can come out of the shadow of the passenger side of the railway industry.

Many freight railway companies are keen to promote the green credentials of rail freight movements.

These individual efforts are unques tionably good for the image of the industry but perhaps they can be better co-ordinated?

The green message is definitely very

On an LinkedIn post, Amine Aloui, a signalling consultant, summed up what we want to achieve with WFTD. He posted: "Whenever someone has asked me, "What do you do for a living?" I explain what a rail system is, how each engineering discipline is involved, and more details (in particular) about signalling... the most common com ment is "It's more interesting than I always imagined. I thought it was just a train running on a track."

"If you ask students "in what field do you want to work?" they would probably say: Aerospace, automobile, or aviation...

"The railway is not boring or unappealing, it is just not known."

The Age of the Freight Train "The Age of the Train" was a television advertising campaign in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s to promote rail passen ger services.

Fifty years on, it is true that we can say that this is now The Age of the Freight Train.

1/ What does a freight train mean to you?

Mick Tinsley: A freight train to me means a resource ef ficient, unobtrusive, environmentally friendlier way of moving high volumes of products.

2/ How long have you been involved in rail freight?

Tinsley: I have been involved in railways since November, 1980. Have worked in workshops, p/way, and in freight I have had roles in train planning, resource management, fleet, finance and commercial. I have run my own compa ny since Summer 2017 and provide consultancy services for uk rail projects and front Wascosa’s rail leasing operations in the UK.

3/ How do you think the industry can promote modal shift and persuade new rail freight clients to come forward?

Tinsley: A: Service Quality and Reliability - Many road freight users do not understand rail and thus, tend to see it as complicated, inflexible and unreliable versus road. If a truck breaks down, a load of less than 30 tonnes of goods is delayed and is easily recovered within a short time frame.

If a freight train breaks down or is prevented form reaching its destination of for any other reason, any amount from 1000 to 3000 tonnes is delayed and, it or a following load, has to be re-planned, often a week or more later. These are not merely perceptions, they are facts.

Therefore, improving rail quality and reliability is a key factor in attracting more freight from road. Better quality equipment, better predictive maintenance, better information and a better response when things go wrong.

B: Legislation and Government Investment

More on this below in Q4 but in summary, govern

ment plays a crucial role in providing a level playing field for rail v road. Rail investment in facilities and techno logical advances is a blocker to many potential rail users, despite the obvious environmental, public interface and road capacity benefits. The government could invest in the step-change technologies and facilities to remove the initial financial burden from potential new rail users. It could recover its investment progressively as new reve nue earning trains generate revenue to pay back the in vestment (pence per tonne arrangement).

We are seeing significant modal shift in the inter modal sector as a direct result of legislation changes. This could be accelerated and extended to other market areas with recoverable government financial support.

4/ Do you think passenger and freight trains are treated equally by politicians and market leaders?

Tinsley: Generally speaking, no. The vast majority of poli ticians' primary objective is to maintain office. Their prior ity will always be to focus on winning votes in an election. Therefore, it is only logical that most politicians and their parties will prioritise the passenger sector over the freight sector as there are more votes to be won from the passen ger sector.

Passenger services will always take political priori ty. However, there are individual politicians and depart ments who support strategic freight development and have the foresight to recognise the long-term benefits of greater use of rail. Making change because it is the right thing to do is not always popular with the public, however well-intended. This conflict of objectives stifles Railfreight development.

With respect to market leaders, their primary objec tive is to make profits for their shareholders. Long-term investment in rail does not usually satisfy the short-term financial objectives of their companies unless they al ready operate in rail.

Legislative change such as carbon reduction target reductions is driving more companies to rail as a means to compliance with legislation. Without legislation, the mar kets will generally follow the path to short-term financial objectives.

5/ Our recent Twitter poll showed our followers did think freight trains can have romance. Do you agree? If yes, can you describe the romance you might feel?

Tinsley: I believe that for some, there is a deep romance for everything rail, including freight trains.

I would also expect that for a large majority of the general population, trains are simply a means to an end.

1. What does a freight train mean to you?

We Are Railfans: Freight trains are hugely popular on the railfanning scene across the globe for a number of very different reasons. In the UK, they provide one of the last refuges for the locomotive fan, with different classes hauling different trains much as was

of play is a world apart from that of busy commuter trains which makes mastering both especially rewarding. We like to offer both passenger and freight in both Train Simulator Classic and Train Sim World and with the latest Deluxe Edi tion release of Train Sim World 3, there are diesel, electric and steam freight operations across the UK, USA and Germany.

the case with passenger ser vices across most of the 20th century.

Their variety and elusive nature, not being timetabled publicly, make them attractive to spotters, photographers and modellers recreating their operations.

Dovetail Games / Train Sim World 3: Freight trains mean a lot to our players! We relish in giving gamers and railfans the opportunity to take control of powerful locomotives, hauling mile-long freight trains through challenging routes. The style

2. How long have you been involved in rail freight?

We Are Railfans: We began in July 2020 with the aim of bringing as many arms of the railway hobby to one place in the form of insightful articles, photographs and episodes of the We Are Railfans Podcast. Many contributions from railfans have featured freight operations mainly from the UK and USA.

Dovetail Games / Train Sim World 3: We’ve been making rail simu

Sim simu

like Simulator Edi World and across been began the in from UK

lation video games for over a decade now, firstly for our fan tastic community of PC players with Train Simulator Classic, but in more recent times for console players too, including the latest generation of con soles with Train Sim World 3. Freight trains and locomotives have always been a staple of our offerings, with Cajon Pass and BNSF the latest addition to the Train Sim World franchise.

3. How do you think the industry can promote modal shift and persuade new rail freight clients to come forward?

We Are Railfans: We see from railfans around the world that the enthusiasm for freight can lead to careers and fur ther interest in the industry. Engaging with enthusiasts can be tricky for rail operators and freight clients, but we see particularly with younger rail fans that there is a keenness to learn more about how freight

works and so leaning on that could be a good step for the sector.

4. Do you think passenger and freight trains are treated equally by politicians and market leaders?

We Are Railfans: Passenger trains certainly make the news, more so than freight, and often with a political or financial nar rative. As a result of this and the fact that they are used by masses, the public perception is always that passenger trains are more important. Railfans

and enthusiasts know that this isn’t always the case!

5. Our recent Twitter poll showed our followers did think freight trains can have romance. Do you agree? If yes, can you describe the romance you might feel?

We Are Railfans: Freight trains definitely have romance – just ask US railfans! The endless cars gliding by through stunning scenery defines railroading in many parts of the USA and, even in the UK, aging diesels hauling aggre gate and steel evoke deep feelings about the nation’s industrial past.

Dovetail Games / Train Sim World 3: Absolutely! We receive many screenshot submissions from our players showcasing the very best of Train Sim World and Train Simulator Classic’s freight operations, often depicting romantic scenes of bygone traction through stunning vistas, but also the latest ma chines powering today’s freight from yard to yard.

There’s definitely a romance in freight trains and we recre ate that as much as we can in our simulations.

Feelfree to use these facts and statistics to communicate the meaning litical leaders in your town or city. The rail freight network is essential public, as it is to going forward in terms of many nations' zero-carbon

From advanced locomotive technology to zero-emission cranes, freight railroads leverage technology across their operations to limit their impact on the environment. In 2021 alone, US freight railroads consumed 790 million fewer gallons of fuel and emitted nine million fewer tons of carbon dioxide than they would have if their fuel efficiency had remained constant since 2000.

Source: AAR

In order to make an active contribution to the preservation of the honeybee, DB turned land over to private beekeepers free of charge, se curing important habitats for over 50 million bees.

Source: DB

Anti-idling technologies such as stop-start systems that shut down a locomotive when it is not in use and restart it when needed. Distributed power (positioning locomotives in the middle of or at the end of trains) helps reduce the total horsepower required for train movements.

Source: AAR.

Tesco was the first UK retailer to start running a dedicated rail service from Spain using temperature-controlled containers. It’s now established five weekly train services from Spain to its Barking depot, carrying 35,000 loads of fresh produce such as oranges and lemons, cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes. This helps to reduce emissions by around 76% compared to lorries – the equivalent of 4,500 tonnes of CO2.

Source: Rail Delivery Group

In 2020, more than 12,000 trains travelled between China and Europe, according to China's Customs Authority, carrying more than a million containers to 21 countries and 92 European cities. The rail freight traffic between Asia and Europe has grown six-fold over the last five years.

Source: European Union

Since steel wheels roll easily on steel rails, the freight in our electric trains can travel 300 times the distance of road freight for the same level of carbon emis sions.

Source: Green Cargo

DB Cargo UK has launched a major new campaign to encour age modal shift from road to rail.

Source: DB Cargo

meaning of WFTD to your customers, clients, neighbours and the poessential for trade, a message we can get across to an unsuspecting zero-carbon targets.

The US rail industry is actively reducing its environmental impact through support of regulations such as the recent Federal Railroad Administration’s January 15 2021 notice of proposed rulemaking to revise 49 C.F.R. Part 232 to address the use of electronic air brake slips (eABS) to track mechanical inspections and freight car mileage, which reduced the amount of time engines must spend idling during brake checks.

Source: American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association

The Rail Cargo Group is part of Rail Freight Forward, a coalition of European freight railways which have set themselves the goal of drastically reducing the negative effects of freight traffic on the planet and mo bility through in novation and a more intelligent traffic mix.

In 2021, shipping with BNSF enabled customers to reduce their total carbon emissions by 21 million tonnes. That's the equivalent of taking 4.4M vehicles off the road.

BNSF

If 25% of truck traffic moving at least 750 miles went by rail instead, annual green house gas emissions would fall by 13.1 mil lion tons.

Source: Rail Cargo Group

The European Commission has proposed the Green Deal with the objective to transform Europe into the first carbon-neutral continent by 2050 and enhance Europe’s CO2-emission targets from 40% to 50% by 2030 in comparison to 1990 levels. Adopting the 30% rail modal share would contribute to these targets with 25 m tons of avoided emissions of CO2 equivalents and approximately EUR 25 bn in avoided external costs from 2030 onwards

Source: RailFreightForward.org

Source: BNSF

The average aggregate train can move 1800t of material in one journey, the equivalent of 55 articulated truck journeys producing 74% less CO2e for each tonne of goods moved, helping companies across Britain meet their environmental targets.

Source: GBRf

When we launched the magazine back in February, we acknowledged that freight trains may lack the glamour associated with famous named passenger trains but there are those who simply love what they do every day when they come to work in the freight yard. This is what they told us.

“Romance of the rails is still there today”

Anything but boring!

Horst Zimmermann has been a train driver at Retrack, VTG Rail Logistics railway undertaking, since 2018. Before his retraining, he worked as a manager for a newspaper publisher for 20 years.

“This has been my dream job ever since I was a kid,” Zimmermann says. “I was initially afraid that I was too old for it, but then I took the entrance exam and was able to start the retraining.” Zimmermann learned about VTG at the “transport logistic” trade fair in Munich, where he got into conver sation with an HR Business Partner. At the time, Retrack didn’t have its own train drivers. But the two kept in touch, and Zim mermann became Retrack’s inaugural train driver after retraining.

He is conscious of the great responsibility he bears as a train driver. “Never get sloppy or fall into a routine,” Zimmermann stresses. “Even if it’s a hassle or you’re running late, safety always comes first.”

But he also enjoys his time travelling on the rails of Bavaria. “A certain romance of the rails is still there today – even with modern locomotives,” adds Zimmermann, who is also an avid model railroader.

“When I’m working, I’m kind of outdoors, in nature, always on the move, seeing beautiful scenery and feeling the head wind.” Zimmermann also treasures the peace and quiet and having time for himself.

I’m excited to work in rail transport because it’s a relatively new product - compared to air, sea and road transport - and it’s rapidly growing and developing. There are not many ex perts on the market yet, so we’ve had to work hard to gain knowledge in the sector.

cargo-partner has been offering rail transport solutions across the New Silk Road for nearly a decade now. This means we’ve had the chance to shape a transport mode of the future from the very beginning, and to implement it suc cessfully in our own organisation. Our rail transport solutions across the New Silk Road add value to our customers’ supply chains and help us optimise door-to-door lead times for FCL and LCL shipments on the east- and west-bound trade lanes. In addition, rail transport is environment-friendly and thus contributes to discovering more sustainable transport solu tions.

Finally, it’s important to note that the rail transport mar ket is very volatile. The constant changes require a high de gree of dexterity which further adds to making this job any thing but boring!

Georg Dangl, Corporate Director Product Management Rail Transport, cargo-partner

Proud to have turned my hobby into my profession

I have been the Secretary of the Rail Freight Forum of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport CILT UK since 2014. Over the past twenty years I have lived in Newport, South Wales and worked in the public and private sectors as a transport consultant, adviser and planner.

A graduate of Durham University, I am proud to have turned my hobby into my profession. As a lifelong railway enthusiast, working in rail freight enables me to link my interest with projects that benefit society , the economy and the environment. This creates a profound sense of job satisfaction and social reward, enjoying opportunities to meet people, discuss current issues, propose ideas and resolve problems.

My work with Atkins included studies to convey slate waste from Blaenau Ffestiniog , the export of steel from Birdport , Newport and the viability of in termodal activity from DIRFT to Wentloog terminal, Cardiff. Prior to that I was Senior Policy Adviser to the Welsh Government and manager of the Freight Facilities Grant regime. Schemes involved bringing scrap metal by rail to sites in Newport and Cardiff, and investigating the business case for transporting slate waste along the Conwy Valley to terminals in England . I co-authored ‘Rail Freight - A guide for community groups and rail partnerships’ published by ACORP and Atkins.

1/ What does a freight train mean to you?

A freight train means for me more than smart way of transportation, a connection of ecological and economic and traffic solutions.

2/ How long have you been involved in rail freight?

I have been involved in rail freight more than 17 years.

3/ How do you think the industry can promote modal shift and persuade new rail freight clients to come forward?

Rail freight clients are interested in the price of trasportation, length of trains and ecological

matters like hybrid trains are major attractive elements that make major companies develop interest.

4/ Do you think passenger and freight trains are treated equally by politicians and market lead ers?

I do think they are treated equally.

5/ Our recent Twitter poll showed our follow ers did think freight trains can have romance. Do you agree? If yes, can you describe the romance you might feel?

I don’t share that view. I see no romance in freight trains.

Andrew Hemmings BA(Hons) FCILT

Splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen requires huge amounts of renew able electricity. Importing green hydrogen will be necessary as local de mand far outstrips what is available domestically. Launched last year, the European Hydrogen Strategy recognises that transporting hydrogen will play a pivotal role in enabling the widespread use of renewable hydrogen across Europe. Already, a number of member states have published their own na tional hydrogen strategies, including examining the logistics of moving imported hy drogen. In 2021 Germany signed a bilateral agreement, looking at the possibility of importing hydrogen produced from solar power in Australia.

Germany hoping to open Hydrogen is an odourless without emitting CO2 and quantity to have a key role nise Germany. Jonathan

Before the European Hydrogen Strategy can be acted upon, it's vital that the eco nomics are examined regarding just how cost effective it is to produce renewable hydrogen at locations where renewable electricity is cheap and then transport it to the customer. Another option is to produce the renewable hydrogen near to where the demand is. If the first option is favoured, a sub question is then posed as to how long a transport route can be before the cost of the hydrogen become uncompetitive with producing it locally.

To implement the European Hydrogen Strategy it is important to understand whether it is cost effective to produce renewable hydrogen where renewable elec tricity is cheap and then to transport the hydrogen to the customer, or it is better to produce the renewable hydrogen close to the demand location. If transporting hy drogen makes sense, a second open question is how long the transport route should be for the cost of the hydrogen to still be competitive with locally produced hydro gen.

Rail is next best thing to a pipeline

DB Cargo believes that using rail to transport hydrogen from ports to the desired location is a sensible decision – Germany lacking a pipeline infrastructure. Although coal is expected to dominate the German rail network during the approaching win ter, hydrogen will play an increasingly important part in the energy mix as the German federal government attempts to replace lost energy sources from Russia.

Dr Sigrid Nikutta, head of DB Cargo AG, said: “Transporting hydrogen by train is one of the main priorities for DB Cargo in the future. The concept represents an efficient alternative to pipelines for hy drogen because they don’t exist yet.” It is envisaged that implementing such a pol icy should be relatively straight forward, with Dr Nikutta saying “Green hydrogen needs green logistics – and we can al ready offer that today”.

In liaison with suppliers, DB Cargo will

create a hydrogen rail network strategy. The tank wagons used to transport chemicals, will the type of wagons being used, transhipment procedure. Network capacity may be a challenge, straight forward part of the operation.

With regards to the latter, DB Cargo is has the expertise, experience and resources

Normally, during transportation hydrogen this helps simplify its transportation via ships.

Photo: Kamen, Nordrhein_Westfalen

headline headline

open hydrogen rail 'pipeline'

used because hydrogen is left in its bond – the cargo only being 'cracked' back into its components when it is ready to utilised as an energy source.

This sees the hydrogen separated and used as an energy carrier.

Stubborn emissions

The German Government is particularly targeting sectors with stubborn emissions, such as aviation and heavy industry. However, Germany is unable to produce much of its required renewable power, due to lack of facilities – hence the need to import significant quantities.

Critics have commented that it's hardly 'green' to ship hydrogen from Australia and all that the policy does is allow Germany to off-shore any pollution it creates in the pursuit of a green agenda.The company is also involved in the ongoing develop ment of new hydrogen containers. The capacity issue is the tricker of the two, by far. The company's immediate plans, give coal trains priority and DBC will have to demonstrate how capacity can be created to run sufficient hydrogen trains.

According to Joerg Hensel, works council chairman at Deutsche Bahn unit DB Cargo, the terrible state of rail infrastructure in Germany currently results in approx imately 100 trains a day standing idle in stations – a figure that is expected to grow as high as 300 in the weeks ahead. In May Deutsche Bahn Chief Executive Richard Lutz indicated that the country's 33,000 kilometre network needs major investment to bring it up to a reasonable standard, with Transport Minister Volker Wissing also acknowledging the poor state of the network and promising improvements.

The recent move to priorities freight over passenger traffic has not gone down well in some quarters, with Peter Westenberger, managing director of the NEE asso ciation of private rail companies, warning: "Prioritisation will affect everyone. There will be a tussle over which customers are most important. There will be collateral damage."

It wasn't always like this Some view the enthusiasm for hydrogen as a panic measure, in the face of increasing hardship as Germany battles energy shortages caused by the conflict in Ukraine.

The liquid hydrogen, loaded in the type of will arrive at German ports and because of transhipment from sea to rail will not be a complex challenge, but equipment will be a relatively already involved in similar operations, so resources to move hydrogen by rail. hydrogen is bound in liquids such as ammonia –ships. The usual tank wagons are able to be

Today's energy crisis in Germany is a far cry from February when it imported over 60% of the energy it consumes each year. The majority of this was fossil fuels from Russia and Norway. CEO of RWE – one of Europe's leading energy corporations – Markus Krebber said at the time:“We need Russian natural gas, and Russia needs foreign currency” and emphasised that a “close mutual dependence” between Ger many and Russia has existed for many years. Germany even established an hydrogen diplomacy office in Moscow, along with offices in Riyadh, Luanda and Abuja with two main purposes.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs outlines these as Germany having “a high interest in seeing more production capacities for green hydrogen emerge abroad to meet our future import needs” and “to ensure current exporters of fossil fuels adapt their business model at an early stage in order to mitigate economic distortions – and thus also potential security risks”.

odourless gas that can be burned and is needed in significant role in helping to decarboWebb investigates.

UK freight rail usageFreightandrail

Officialtraffic figures from the UK's Office of Rail and Road (ORR) show that Freight rail usage and performance levels in the latest quarter (April 1 to June 30 2022) are compared with the same quarter last year (April 1 to June 30 2021).

Total freight moved was 3.95 billion net tonne kilometres in the latest quarter. It was 8.8% lower compared with a year ago.

The freight train kilometre dataset has been revised back to April 2010 to improve the cov erage of the rail network. It also includes a split by traction type (electric or diesel) for the first time. Data for freight vehicle kilometres are published for the first time, also including a split by traction type.

Every commodity decreased compared with a year ago, except coal.

It was the lowest April to June quarter in the time series, excluding April to June 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic. There were fewer days available for transporting freight in June 2022 due to the railway industry strikes and the additional bank holiday.

With the exception of coal, every commodi ty saw a fall in freight moved volumes compared with last year. International volumes had the largest percentage decrease, with a reduction of 31.9%. There were 0.06 billion net tonne ki lometres of international freight moved, which is the lowest value in the time series. There has been a large reduction in a key flow following restructuring in the steel industry.

Other freight moved was the second larg est reduction at 19.5%. A decrease in domestic waste has contributed to this from fewer home deliveries. Online retail sales have gone down. For example, online retail sales fell by 9.9% in June 2022 compared with June 2021.

Volumes of metals fell by 12.1%. The reduc tion in construction activity has resulted in a lower demand for steel. It has affected demand for structural steel (girders and beams) as well as tubular products (e.g. lighting columns).

Construction volumes were 9.0% lower this

quarter compared with the same quarter last year. The construction market is being affected by the global economic uncertainty, which has resulted in lower demand for aggregates, par ticularly for concrete manufacture. Higher pric es for construction products has compounded the decrease in construction activity.

The extent of the reduction in construction volumes may have been partially offset by the greater volumes of timber for board manufac turing. In particular, the Kronospan processing plant at Chirk has undergone significant modal shift to rail.

Domestic intermodal (transporting of goods to and from GB ports make up the largest pro portion of this category) saw a decrease of 8.2%. This can be attributed to the continued disruption to deep sea shipping and supply chains. Ports are experiencing congestion and bottlenecks, which leads to lower maritime intermodal volumes. Domestic intermodal re mains the commodity with the largest market share of freight moved, comprising 38.1% in the latest quarter.

Coal volumes have risen sharply, increasing by 182.3%. This equates to a rise of 0.08 billion net tonne kilometres. Rising gas prices have led to large increases in the coal burnt at West Burton and Radcliffe power stations. In April to June 2021 coal had the smallest market share of freight moved at 1.0%. In April to June 2022, coal was the second smallest market share (3.0%) and international was the smallest mar ket share (1.6%).

Freight lifted

The total amount of freight lifted in the latest quarter was 18.4 million tonnes. It decreased by 7.5% compared with the same quarter in the previous year. The industrial action in June 2022 is one reason for the reduction.

Other freight lifted was 16.8 million tonnes, which was 9.3% lower than a year ago. It has fallen over two consecutive quarters since the peak of 18.8 million tonnes in October to De

cember 2021. The amount million tonnes. It has risen with the same quarter

Coal import levels were ity production at the last stations in the UK.

Freight Delivery Metric Freight punctuality, as measured Delivery Metric, was 89.9% June 2022, which is the ries.

It was 5.1 percentage same quarter in the previous

and performance

Q2 2022 rail usage and performance April to June 2022

amount of coal lifted was 1.7 risen by 15.3% compared quarter in the previous year. up to support electric last two coal-fired power

action is a reason behind the deterioration of freight punctuality, with several strike days tak ing place in June 2022.

To be able to calculate the Freight Deliv ery Metric during the strike action (June 21 to June) it was necessary to estimate the number of freight trains that should have run on each of the days.

five consecutive quarters.

Freight operators experienced 9.39 minutes of delay per 100 train kilometres in the latest quarter. This was 13.5% higher (i.e. worse) than the same quarter in the previous year, an in crease of 1.12 minutes.

Metric (FDM) measured by the Freight 89.9% between April and the lowest in the time se

percentage points lowerthan the previous year. Industrial

This was done by taking the average of trains run on the same day of the week in each of the previous four weeks. Public holidays were excluded from this calculation.

The FDM Moving Annual Average (FDM MAA) was 92.3%, which is similarly the lowest value in the time series. It has decreased over

In the latest quarter, 8.10 million freight train kilometres were recorded. This was 5.3% lower than the same quarter in the previous year. The railway industry strikes in June 2022 are likely to have impacted this trend.

DB Cargo UK had the largest reduction in freight train kilometres at 11.9%. Three of the four largest operators saw decreases in freight train kilometres.

Fundraising for VTG Rail UK's chosen charity gets off to a flying start

The United Kingdom's largest rail wagon leaser, VTG Rail UK, has chosen West Midlands based Acorns Children's Hospice as its charity of the year and to kick off the fundraising effort eight members of the team flew on a zip wire at over 100mph over the Wales countryside.

The group took to Velocity 2, at Zipworld, soaring over the Penrhyn Quarry for 1.5km raising £2200 for the charity in the process.

Colin Denman, Managing Director of VTG Rail UK, said: "I'm very proud of all my colleagues who took part in the zip wire challenge, which marked the beginning of our year of fundraising efforts for our chosen charity, the Acorn Chil dren's Hospice.

"This is a fantastic charity which provides a network of specialist palliative nursing care and support for babies, chil dren and young people under the age of 18 who have been diagnosed with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions, as well as providing support to their families.

"I'd like to thank all our families, friends, customers and

suppliers who sponsored our zip wire team enabling us to raise these funds for Acorns."

Acorns offers support from its three hospices in Worces ter, Birmingham and Walsall, as well as in family homes and the community.

Generosity of local businesses

Emma Harewood, Partnerships Fundraising Officer at Acorns, said: "We wouldn't be able to carry out our vital work with out the generosity of local businesses and the community. In the past year we have cared for more than 700 children and almost 1000 families, including those who are bereaved. It costs us £27,000 every day to provide our services, the bulk of which comes from fundraising.

"So, we are extremely grateful to VTG Rail UK for choos ing to support our charity."

VTG Rail UK Ltd is the UK's largest private wagon hire company with a fleet of over 4000 wagons and is part of the VTG Group. Its headquarters is located in Birmingham.

DB Cargo UK's photograph competition 2022 opens

Cameras

at the ready! It's competition time! On October 1 2022, DB Cargo UK is launching a new photography competition, replacing the standard calendar competition as seen in previous years.

There has been a multitude of high quality entries in the past and we are looking forward to see what this year has to offer.

The prizes given for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place are as follows:

1st prize – A cab ride and a depot tour at a location convenient for the winner 2nd prize – A depot tour at a location convenient for the winner

3rd prize – A DB Cargo UK goody bag

As usual, images submitted must be good quality and not be excessively digitally altered and the subject of the photos must be “DB Cargo UK”. You will be allowed to submit up to three images, and in submitting photos you will be agreeing to share copyright with DB Cargo UK.

The competition closes on the October 31 2022 and en tries submitted after this date will not be accepted. Judging will take place throughout November 2022, with winners an nounced in December 2022.

cargo-partner pushes for sustainable

The international logistics provider cargo-partner is taking continuous action to make its warehouse operations more ecologically sustainable. From an all-timber warehouse in Austria to a direct rail connection at a warehouse in Slovakia, car go-partner proves that efficient logistics processes benefit not only its customers, but also the environment.

When cargo-partner opened its all-timber iLogistics Cen ter Fischamend on 12,500 sq m near Vienna Airport in 2018, the company sent a strong signal to the industry in terms of sustainable architecture and green logistics. 4200 m³ of timber were used in the construction, resulting in a CO₂ re duction of 8400 tonnes compared to conventional building materials. However, the logistics provider’s efforts haven’t stopped there, and cargo-partner continues to work on re ducing the CO₂ footprint of its operations. So it is not surpris ing that cargo-partner’s offices and warehouses in Austria have been obtaining 100% of their electricity from renew able energy sources since 2017.

Stefan Krauter, CEO of cargo-partner, emphasizes: “When it comes to sustainability, our work is never done. Minimiz ing our environmental impact is a top priority and an ongo ing effort throughout our company. Our iLogistics Centers

in Fischamend and Dunajska Streda are just two examples which demonstrate that efficient logistics processes can of ten translate into a lower CO₂ footprint.”

Slovakia: Less CO₂ thanks to rail terminal

In Dunajska Streda, cargo-partner operates a 17,400 sq m logistics centre which is directly connected to the METRANS rail container terminal. This connection provides a unique advantage, as containers no longer need to be transported to the warehouse by truck.

Instead, cargo-partner uses special forklifts to unload the containers directly from the train to the warehouse via dedi cated loading docks. By avoiding road transport to a separate hub, cargo-partner achieves a significant reduction in carbon emissions.

Since the METRANS terminal provides ideal connections to the ports of Hamburg and Bremerhaven in the north as well as Koper and Rijeka in the south, more and more cus tomers are making use of this convenient hub. From January to July 2022, a total of 1200 TEU were handled at cargo-part ner’s warehouse in Dunajska Streda, which translates to 132,000 km or 40,000 litres of Diesel fuel saved. Assuming an

sustainable warehousing throughout Europe

average of 966 grams of CO₂ per km, this means 127,193 kg of CO₂ were saved by handling shipments in Dunajska Streda.

Slovenia: Solar-powered days ahead in 2023

Since the opening of the iLogistics Center Ljubljana in 2019, customer demand has far exceeded cargo-partner’s initial expectations, prompting the company to start the expansion of the facility earlier than planned.

An additional warehouse building, set to open in Novem ber, will increase storage space from the warehouse’s cur rent 25,000 sq m to a total of 39,100 sq m.

To ensure that this growth is not only economically, but also environmentally sustainable, cargo-partner plans to up grade the facility in 2023 with the installation of a large pho tovoltaic system on the roof.

The “power plant” will produce 575 MWh per year, cov ering 34% of the company’s energy consumption and result ing in 273 metric tons of CO₂ saved each year.

Croatia: Off to the best start in a state-of-the-art facility

When investing in new warehouse facilities, cargo-partner

chooses locations that follow the latest standards in regard to environmental sustainability. This was also the case for cargo-partner’s new warehouse in Zagreb with 12,900 sq m of storage space which took up operations earlier this year. The building is certified according to BREEAM, an interna tionally recognised standard for sustainable building con struction and operation.

BREEAM evaluates factors such as energy and water use, health and wellbeing, pollution, transport, materials, waste, ecology and management processes. The building is fully equipped with LED lighting and holds 6028 solar panels on its roof, producing an estimated 2338 MWh per year.

As part of cargo-partner’s continuous efforts to make its logistics operations more sustainable, several other locations throughout Europe are also planning to bolster its photovol taic systems in the near future.

This includes the company’s warehouses in Fischamend, Ljubljana, Dunajska Streda, Bratislava, Sofia and Belgrade.

In the words of Stefan Krauter: “The ongoing global cli mate crisis is perhaps the most important challenge of our time. We will continue to support environmental initiatives and implement sustainable technologies to work towards a better tomorrow.”

DB Cargo UK named RFG

DB Cargo UK has been named as Business of the Year at the annu al Rail Freight Group Awards, which were held on September 8 at Shendish Manor Hotel, Apsley, just outside London.

The judges were impressed with the company’s entries in several categories, “showing the depth and breadth of its innovation and cus tomer service”. DB Cargo also won the Rail Freight Project of the Year for its service running trains through the Channel Tunnel for Toyota.

This project has brought a new traffic flow to rail, reducing the cus tomer’s carbon emissions by 8,000 tonnes a year and cutting a five day road journey to just 25 hours by train. DB Cargo UK invested £2.5m

in a new vehicle storage compound and Groupe Cat invested £3m in a specialist wagon fleet.

The judges said the new ser vice from northern France to the East Midlands for Toyota “proved a concept that could have significant positive impact on the automotive logistics industry as a whole”.

DRS and Tesco, the winners of the Driving Rail Freight Growth award, also brought new traffic to rail. The judges called the launch of Tesco’s first refrigerated rail service, operated by DRS as a trail-blazer, saying that “reliably moving chilled produce in large quantities is a step change for rail”. More than 17,000 containers a year have been moved off the roads. This service will help drive the whole chilled food market to increase its use of rail freight, and

the significance of this should not be underestimated, the judges said.

The Sustainability and Safety award was won by Freightliner for its Shortliner wagon which gives customers full flexibility by provid ing a combination of 40ft and 20ft wagons, while the Innovation and Talent Award was won by VTG Rail for its VTG Connect system which the judges said was “light years ahead of other software projects”.

A special Humanitarian Award was given to the many companies, both RFG members and others, which collaborated to collect vital supplies for Ukraine and run a train to the country to deliver them.

The awards were sponsored by Burges Salmon and GB Railfreight. A raffle for Railway Benefit Fund raised £2400.

RFG

Business of the Year

Business of the Year

Winner: DB Cargo UK

Rail Freight Project of the Year

Winner: DB Cargo UK Runner Up: DC Rail

Driving Rail Freight Growth Winner: DRS and Tesco Runner Up: Colas Rail and DC Rail

Sustainability and Safety Winner: Freightliner Runner Up: Cemex

Innovation & Talent Winner: VTG Rail Runner Up: DB Cargo UK

Outstanding Individual Contribution Winner: Bessie Matthews, Freightliner Runner Up: Jamie Versey, GBRf

Special Recognition award: Brian George, Colas Rail

Young Rail Freight Professional

Winner: Ed Roe, Maritime Transport Runner Up: Adrian Salatowski, CWE Runner Up: Praveen Amarasinghe, Network Rail

Special Humanitarian Award DB Cargo and partners.

After the business, the fun

UKRAINE: RCG TRANSPORTS

580,000 TONNES OF GRAIN

Since March, 580,000 tonnes of grain have already been transported out of Ukraine. Strengthened fur ther collaboration with the Ukrainian State Railway. TransFER – ÖBB Rail Cargo Group (RCG) has been transporting grain, with all its available resources, out of Ukraine since the beginning of the war.

Between the outbreak of war until the end of August, 580,000 tonnes of grain were transported out of the Ukraine by RCG, in the month of August alone it was over 145,000 tonnes.

Grain deliveries throughout Europe

Due to the geographical location of the grain processing companies, a majority of the deliveries were transported to Hungary in August, followed by Germany, Italy and Romania as well as the Netherlands. In this journey, the RCG grain transporters cross over four border crossings: Firstly over the Ukrainian-Slovak border by Chop, the Hungarian-Ukrainian border Záhony, the Ukrainian-Romanian border Reni, as well as the Ukrainian-Polish border Chyriw.

Further collaboration with Ukrainian State Railway

To quicken the grain export, the co-operation with the Ukra nian State railway Ukrzaliznica (UZ) will be further developed. The implementation of a permanent bilateral working party was approved at the end of August 2022. In doing so, op erations such as the data exchange and processes between co-operation partners, such as the workload of the tranship ment capacity, will be optimised.

More than 1000 users on GrainLane

The online agricultural marketplace GrainLane, developed by RCG and an IT partner, has been connecting Ukrainian farm ers with retailers, consumers and logistics providers since 2022.

Over 200,000 tonnes of grain, soy and dry corn are cur rently being traded by over 1000 registered users. The RCG makes GrainLane available free for all market participants under www.grain-lane.com thus providing, besides the transportation they carry out, a further, pivotal contribution to the grain export in the Ukraine.

FastTrack now available at Munich-Riem DUSS terminal

Already well established at ports such as Rot terdam and Gothenburg, FastTrack is now also going off the blocks at another key European freight node. With immediate effect, the service can also be booked at the DUSS terminal in Munich-Riem. FastTrack maximises flexibility for customers.

Thanks to 24/7 availability, it gives them a fast and easy way to book extra capacity in response to adhoc planning needs or unexpected outages. Reliable, high-quality transports are thus guaranteed.

Premium service

“We have set up a premium service throughout Europe in the shape of FastTrack, and we are thrilled to be add ing another attractive location to this network,” says Thomas Dittmann, Head of Digital Products at VTG.

“The ability to make wagons available in Munich at short notice and with digital support helps us provide ad

ditional capacity to guarantee failsafe transports, most of which would otherwise be carried by road. Besides being a very attractive service for our customers, this also plays a part in realising the transportation and en vironmental policy goal off shifting freight off the roads and onto the rails.”

Online bookings via traigo

The DUSS terminal in Munich-Riem is the pivotal hub between Central and Southern Europe, bundling trans ports to and from Italy in particular. It is thus a central transshipment point for numerous operators and hosts a large number of railway companies.

Starting now, customers at this terminal can go on line and book single wagons (90-foot container carriers) for maritime and continental transports at any time of the day or night. VTG’s digital rail freight offerings are pooled under www.traigo.com, giving customers central access to digital fleet management.

Hiab receives €7.5 million order for super heavy HIAB RAIL loader cranes

Hiab,

part of Cargotec, has re ceived a significant order for €7.5 million for HIAB iX.2758

RAIL super heavy loader cranes including installation and five years ProCare service agreements with warranty extension by Tecnove.

The order was booked in Cargo tec’s Q3 order intake with deliveries scheduled to start in the second half of 2023.

The super heavy cranes are the biggest HIAB cranes ever and will be installed on Tecnove designed trucks, a leader in the manufacture, transfor mation and maintenance of bodywork and special vehicles, and will be used by a Spanish rail organisation.

The HIAB iX.2758 RAIL has been specifically designed to meet railway infrastructure standards and as the biggest in the recently launched RAIL series, it has a lifting performance of 20,000 kg with an outreach of ten

meters. It is an ideal solution for rapid response in recovery and emergen cy situations for both rail and metro networks as it can operate below the power lines, so the overhead lines do not have to be dismantled, and in con fined spaces due its compact size.

The stabilisers allow the vehicle with the crane installed to move side ways from one parallel track to anoth er.

The eight HIAB iX.2758 RAIL load er crane models are equipped with the SPACEevo control system with additional railway safety features to comply with the industry standards, as well as connectivity to access Hiab’s HiConnect™ service.

“We are proud to have won this tender with our new railway-specific crane together with our partner Tec nove. Key to the success was Hiab’s great service network dealers in Spain as well as the HiConnect system that

guarantees maximum productivity for the rail organisation company. This innovative loader and rescue crane solution is a door opener for Hiab into the world-wide railway industry,” says Ronald Verzijl, Managing Director, Hiab Iberia.

Aldino Zeppelli, Senior Vice Pres ident Loader Crane Heavy & Super Heavy added: “This is only the begin ning of our ambitious plans to become one of the preferred suppliers to the railway industry with the best custom er experience.

"We see a great potential in ex panding our offering to the railway industry and with the introduction of the RAIL series, we have created more choice for the customers and have the capability of creating custom-made solutions.”

In 2021, over 50 cranes to be used in the Spanish railway industry were supplied by Hiab.

ROLL UP, ROLL UP! ALL THE FUN OF THE FAIR ON THE TRACKS

CircusRoncalli is on track as some 630 tonnes of cir cus equipment is moved on a 700 metre block train. From Germany to Austria.

As part of its “All for ART for ALL” tour, Circus RONCALLI is coming to Vienna after a two-year break and will be in the city between September 14 and October 9 2022. The company, based in Cologne, continues to rely on ÖBB Rail Cargo Group (RCG) to transport around 630 tonnes of circus equipment by rail.

RCG then takes over transportation in Passau, Germany, before bringing the equipment to the Freudenau port in Vi enna. The load consists of 30 beautifully maintained, well restored circus and showman’s wagons that are up to 120 years old, various equipment such as fences and tarpaulins as well as small vehicles.

Furthermore, around 4.5 km of cable, 10,000 LED lights and five km of water hoses are transported to Vienna on a

700 metre block train. Circus Roncalli’s equipment is unload ed by the Roncalli logistics team and, over a period of days, it will transform the Rathausplatz in Vienna into a realm of magic and poetry. From September 14, the stage is set for the new programme “All for ART for ALL”.

"Our Circus-Theater Roncalli partnership dates back to 2009. It is where rail, art and culture come togeth er as one. I'm excited to say that RCG is transport ing a total of 630 tonnes of circus equipment from Passau to Vienna and vice versa," said Clemens Först, Chief Executive Of ficer (CEO) at ÖBB Rail Cargo Group.

Patriot Rail completes acquisition of Pioneer Lines

Florida-based

Patriot Rail Company has completed the acquisition from BRX Transportation Holdings of Denver-based Pioneer Lines, Inc., a railroad holding company including 15 short line railroads. The trans action closed following US regulatory authorisation.

The acquisition advances Patriot Rail’s growth strategy, increasing the Jacksonville, Florida, company’s short line operations from 16 to 31 railroads. Patriot now serves cus tomers with operations in 23 states.

“We are pleased to bring Pioneer Lines railroads into Pa triot Rail,” said John E. Fenton, Patriot Rail’s Chief Executive Officer.

“Doubling our footprint across the US furthers our com mitment to exceed customer expectations as a best-in-class rail partner. Patriot Rail takes great pride in delivering value to our customers with safety always as our core foundation, and our expansion will drive deeper commercial and logis tics relationships.”

“Patriot Rail’s accelerating growth opens more opportu nities for innovative and sustainable freight transport solu tions,” said John Ma, Patriot board member and co-head of North America for Igneo Infrastructure Partners, Patriot’s majority investor. “Igneo continues to see strong potential

for long-term returns through our investment in the Patriot Rail platform.”

Patriot Rail board chair Deb Butler added: “Patriot Rail has the growth mindset and financial capacity to invest in profitable initiatives benefitting rail shippers and our longterm investors.

"We welcome our new Patriot team members to our employee-first leadership culture, and the future is bright for the customers, stakeholders, and communities we serve.”

Patriot Rail

Patriot Rail operates 16 regional and short line freight rail roads (including two properties with two railroads operat ing as one), a scenic rail excursion train, and two rail-related services companies with over 600 total rail miles across the United States.

Service capabilities include railcar storage, railcar repair and maintenance, railway clean-up and transfer, tank car cleaning and environmental services, contract switching, transloading, engineering services, excursion railroads, real estate, and track access.

ALEXANDRE GALLO NEW PRESIDENT OF AFRA Alexandre

Gallo is the new president of the French Rail Association (AFRA), which brings together al ternative operators to the SNCF. Gallo, Chairman and CEO of DB Cargo France, was unanimous ly elected Chairman of the Association Française du Rail (AFRA) during the Board meeting on September 13. He con gratulates the action of his predecessor Claude Steinmetz, president since 2016, who did not stand for re-election and became vice-president of the association.

“At a time when both passenger and freight rail trans port will play a central and decisive role in decarbonizing and managing energy tensions, it is an honour for me to be come President of AFRA, to make the voice of alternative railway companies heard and to defend the interests of new entrants, says Alexandre Gallo. AFRA members will be pres ent to make the train more attractive and to develop rail transport."

"The opening up of passenger rail transport to compe tition is finally taking shape with great success in the field, continues Gallo, confirming that this is indeed an opportu nity to develop the entire sector and offer travelers a better quality of service.

Freight side

"On the freight side, faced with a balance weakened by the energy crisis, planning and investments are necessary but the demand from shippers is there with a very strong am bition to double the share of rail freight. Going in the direc tion of ecological transition, these developments will only be possible through a significant improvement in the per

formance of SNCF Réseau, which is the weak link in the rail sector," he added.

A transport specialist, from sea to rail

The election of Gallo as head of the Association Française du Rail salutes a career spanning nearly twenty years in trans port and in the rail world.

Born in 1968, Gallo had a first part of his career in the French Navy.

From 2013, successively Managing Director of Nova trans (combined transport operator), Managing Director of the Belgian group Eurorail / Régiorail (logistician and railway company), he joined the Deutsche Bahn group in 2018, as director of production of Euro Cargo Rail, being in charge of the operational activity, as well as the management of the design of the services and the maintenance of the locomo tives and wagons. In November 2020, he became Chairman and CEO of Euro Cargo Rail (which became DB Cargo France in 2021).

About AFRA

The French Rail Association (AFRA) , created in March 2009, brings together alternative operators to the SNCF: Trans dev, Transdev Rail, Trenitalia France, Deutsche Bahn/Arriva; CargoBeamer, DB Cargo France, Europorte (Getlink group), ETMF, LINEAS, RegioRail, T3M, Froidcombi, CAPTRAIN (for merly VFLI), CFL Cargo France, Millet Rail; Vossloh Rolling Stock, Alstom, Trainline, Objectif OFP, Moreno, Akiem and AD Potentiel.

Joseph R Hinrichs appointed president and CEO of CSX CSX

Corp, one of the United States’ leading trans portation suppliers, as part of a planned succession process, has appointed seasoned executive Joseph R. Hinrichs as the Company’s new President and Chief Executive Officer, effective September 26 2022.

Hinrichs succeeds James M. Foote, who plans to retire as President and Chief Executive Officer, as well as from the Board, on September 26 2022.

Foote will continue to work with the Company through March 31 2023 as an advisor to facilitate a seamless leader ship transition.

Hinrichs has more than 30 years’ experience in the global automotive, manufacturing, and energy sectors, previous ly serving as President of Ford Motor Company’s automo tive business. In that role, he led the company’s $160-bil lion global automotive operations, after having previously served as President of Global Operations, President of the Americas, and President of Asia Pacific and Africa. Hinrichs has also held executive roles in global manufacturing, mate rials planning, and logistics.

“This appointment is the result of a long and deliberate process, in which we identified the strongest candidate to lead CSX through its next phase of growth and transfor mation. Jim has been at the helm throughout most of the company’s transformation, producing record operating and financial results, focusing on sustainability, and emphasizing the importance of safety. We cannot thank him enough for his contributions to CSX, and his commitment to ensuring a

smooth transition,” said John J. Zillmer, Chairman of CSX’s Board of Directors.

“The Board believes that Joe is a seasoned leader with the relevant experience to lead CSX forward with our full support.”

Delta Southern Railroadreach with new transload

DeltaSouthern Railroad, Inc., a privately held short line railroad company in Northern Louisiana, has opened a rail transload terminal on its Tallulah/ Lake Providence branch in Sondheimer, LA slated for autumn 2022.

Precision Terminal Logistics, a well-known national transload operator with experience handling a wide range of bulk and dimensional products, will operate the site, which will afford customers on-site truck scales and con venient access to both I-20 and the national rail network.

“We are extremely excited to have Precision operating

on our railroad. I have known their team for many years, and have tremendous respect for their commitment to safety, environmental stewardship, and customer service,” said Frank Prentiss, VP of Sales and Marketing for Delta Southern.

Third-party terminal operator

A third-party terminal operator of more than 23 terminals from the northeast to the southern states and growing, Precision Terminal Logistics provides customized terminal

Railroad

transloadexpandsterminal

spans across all modes of transportation making this an attractive opportunity,” said Ray Nixon, President of Preci sion Terminal of Logistics.

Strategically increasing multi-modal transport infra structure opportunities in the region not only aids trade expansion it is also attractive to industries looking to de velop in the region making it a win-win for all parties, ac cording to Nixon.

“It is my pleasure to help bring business back to the once booming town of Sondheimer, Louisiana,” said local landowner and businessman Chip Sullivan of BLP Truck ing. “I look forward to working alongside Delta Southern Railroad and Precision Terminal Logistics. I am confident this partnership will be beneficial to our local and regional economy.”

Exploration of prospects

Like Sullivan, Delta Southern Railroad is keen to invest in the communities their customers and employees call home. According to the company’s website, it is through exploration of prospects like this that they strive to not only expand business but change the way their customers move business.

“The addition of this location will offer customers a strategic point of import and export of products into the global market with direct connection to Kansas City South ern on the Meridian Speedway and other rail connections,” said Jon Ryan, CEO of Delta Southern.

“Additionally, the proposed merger of KCS and Cana dian Pacific will allow customers single-system access to Canada and Mexico once it leaves our line.

services including material handling, inventory control, storage, processing, and loading. Their experience ranges from food grade to hazmat bulk and includes agriculture, chemical, energy, industrial minerals, and aggregate prod ucts, all of which are ideally suited for Delta Southern’s customers in the region.

“Precision is excited to partner with Delta Southern Railroad. The collaboration between all the partners bol sters logistics options for the local community and compa nies in the area.

"The potential increase to transportation efficiencies

Delta Southern aims to bring global reach to our com munities and industries of Northern Louisiana, and now our customers will have the opportunity for more efficient rail service to international ports, whether it be Lazaro Cardenas in Mexico or the Port of Vancouver in Canada,” Ryan added.

In addition to a broader reach of service for custom ers, Delta Southern anticipates the new transload site will present employment opportunities in the local communi ties, Tallulah, and Lake Providence, as well as provide an economic boost to the region.

Ontario Northland's 1808 rolls out

Ontario Northland's 1808 rolled out of the shop with a new Every Child Matters paint scheme. Nipissing First Nation’s Chief McLeod, Educator George Couchie and Survivor June Commanda joined the railway to help unveil this meaningful design.

CP Launches Carbon Emissions Calculator Canadian

Pacific (CP) has launched a web-based car bon emissions calculator, giving customers greater insight into the carbon footprint of its freight rail transportation services. The tool enables complex, tailored emissions calculations and incorporates custom er-specific shipping details to calculate route and commod ity-specific greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The carbon calculator allows CP's customers to explore the impacts of their own emissions footprint and make de cisions to reduce freight transportation emissions by choos ing the lowest carbon-emitting mode of transportation. The tool provides additional insights into the climate-re lated benefits of shipping freight with CP's rail services, an overview of lifecycle emissions from logistics services and a comparison of CP's rail services to long-haul trucking al ternatives.

"CP is committed to operating sustainably and being part of the solution in the transition to a less carbon inten sive economy in North America," said Keith Creel, CP Pres ident and CEO. "We are pleased to provide customers with a tool that allows them to better understand the carbon footprint associated with their shipping options and make informed choices that benefit the environment."

As part of the company's Climate Strategy, CP focuses on operational efficiency and performance improvement, working diligently to optimize energy consumption and re duce costs. CP recognizes that its ability to influence GHG emission reductions extends beyond its operations and across its suppliers and value chain network. The carbon emissions calculator provides a framework to engage across the value chain to identify and collaborate on opportunities to reduce GHG emissions within supply chains.

CP recognizes that collective action to decarbonize needs to continue during the coming decades and is proud to take a leadership role in the freight transportation sec tor's ongoing efforts to reduce its collective environmen tal impact. Sharing insights and experiences with external stakeholders will add further value to CP's climate pro grams and support collaboration and innovation that will benefit the broader transportation industry. The calculator is available online through CP's Sustainably Driven website.

Progress Rail providinglocomotives

Progress

Rail, a Caterpillar Company, is to provide hybrid locomotives to customers, combining diesel engines and batteries, leveraging the company’s continued innovations in propulsion technologies.

Hybrid locomotives offer another capable option in the Progress Rail suite of locomotive emissions reduction tech nologies.

Rumo in Brazil is taking delivery of the first hybrid loco motives from Progress Rail in 2022. Two GT38H interme diate power locomotives are being delivered in 2022 for trials in regional freight services.

providing hybrid diesel/battery electric

“These hybrid units will provide fuel and emissions re ductions with lower upfront investment for our valued cus tomers like Rumo,” commented Marty Haycraft, President and CEO of Progress Rail.

“We are pleased to support our customers with solu tions that help them reach their sustainability goals.”

Modular architecture

These locomotives use modular architecture to remain flexible to future fuels, retain the capability of their diesel

counterparts, and are capable of both regenerative and ex ternal battery charging.

"Sustainability guides all our actions at Rumo, so the re lationship with Progress Rail is very important to us and has the purpose to bring the best solution to our operations," said Marcus Jorge, Rumo Rolling Stock Director.

"With the positive result of the tests, we will be able to increase the number of hybrid locomotives.

"In addition to their environmental impact, they will add more comfort to our machinists and increase safety in our rail network."

NiKRASA 3.0 for handling of non-craneable trailers

TX Logistik AG (Mercitalia Group) has now pre sented the third generation of its NiKRASA tech nology. The solution, which also allows non-cra neable semi-trailers to be easily loaded onto rail, has been improved once again and successfully tested in advance in rail and terminal operations. The newly de signed version 3.0 requires no terminal ramp, is stackable and has been optimised once again for rail transport of megatrailers.

The basis for the further development of the technol ogy was the market experience gained from the practical

ty in the wagon, swap bodies and containers can still be loaded as usual without the systems interfering with each other.

The compatibility of the NiKRASA technology with the pocket wagons of various manufacturers has been further extended. For example, the new generation can be load ed in the T3000, T5 (single pocket) and in the second-gen eration wagons of the Kolowag company. In addition, compatibility testing is underway for the T4000 as well as the new developments from the manufacturers Greenbri er and Talleres Alegría.

use of the previous versions as well as a close exchange with both train manufacturers and wagon developers. A key feature of NiKRASA 3.0 is the elimination of the termi nal ramp, which in previous versions was required in ad dition to the lifting cradle for handling. Both components are now merged into one base platform. NiKRASA 3.0 is now more flexible, easier and faster to handle. For exam ple, the lifting cradle can be handled at any position in the terminal without preparation. In terms of handling times, there is also no longer any additional time required com pared to a craneable trailer - which makes the handling process even more attractive.

Due to the use of novel manufacturing techniques, the tare weight of the new design remains well below three tons. NiKRASA is thus still the lightest solution on the mar ket. During development, attention was also paid to being able to load the widest possible range of vehicles.

In addition to classic semitrailers, silos and trailers with a fixed body, megatrailers as well as trailers without a structure and container chassis (even including contain ers) can be loaded. If the new lifting cradle remains emp

The use of NiKRASA does not result in any addition al height increase. The trailer transported in this way re mains at its clearance height.

This means that the system complies with all valid track profiles (UIC clearance diagram) and can be used without restriction on all routes in Europe. This is one of the primary and market-deciding benefits that separates NiKRASA from all other solutions available on the market.

NiKRASA enables the handling of non-craneable semi-trailers without changing the existing standards in the terminals, on the wagon and on the rail. According to TX Logistik, this makes the system the most economically efficient and cost-effective solution on the market. In view of the usually limited storage space capacities in the ter minals, the lifting cradle has integrated holders that en able fivefold stacking without the use of additional aids. The optimized storage benefits not only the terminals, but combined transport as a whole.

Following its first presentation at the InnoTrans trade fair in Berlin, TXLogistik is now planning the Europe-wide market launch of NiKRASA version 3.0.

CONTAINER TRAIN FROM THE PORT OF FREDERICIA TO TAULOV

Incollaboration with DB Cargo AG and ADP - Associated Danish Ports A/S, Frederica Shipping drove a 350-me tre-long test train with 20 x 40' filled import containers from the Port of Fredericia to the Taulov Container and Rail Terminal.

The service was done as a test in the work to establish a regular rail service between the port and Taulov. Frederica Shipping is still experiencing a lot of pres

sure on the container terminal in Fredericia with both im port and export containers.

By moving containers from the port to Taulov by rail, Frederica Shipping can relieve some of the pressure on the port and the infrastructure around the port for the benefit of waiting time, capacity and not least CO2 emis sions and the environmental concerns now common in the global supply chain.

Genesee & Wyoming Paves Innovation

Genesee

& Wyoming Inc. (G&W) is a US-based short-line railroad hold ing company that owns or leases more than 100 freight railroads serving 3000 customers globally. Its UK sub sidiaries, Freightliner and Pentalver, are the largest intermodal rail freight provider and leading container logistics suppliers in the UK. Though Pentalver specialises in road fleet op erations and Freightliner manages rail and in land container terminal handling, both brands share a drive to provide end-users with safe and efficient transportation services.

Freightliner and Pentalver have always had a strategic pulse on innovation, with a proven record of successfully scaling operations and coverage across the UK. However, in recent years, they have experienced increased con tainer volumes and compounded congestion, posing threats to efficiency.

And as shipping volumes increased, it became more challenging to ensure timely delivery of goods for beneficial cargo own ers (BCOs). Increased volumes led to truck or train bottlenecks at the terminals that be came difficult to predict and manage. This congestion caused further impacts down the supply chain, including trucks being delayed in arriving at a warehouse or distribution cen ter. Truckers were then missing their appoint ed gate time, meaning they would likely miss their delivery window — creating additional backups and delays at the terminal and sur rounding communities.

G&W’s UK team decided it was time to revisit its strategy and explore a variety of terminal operating solutions that could ad dress congestion, embrace automation, and position Freightliner and Pentalver to handle increased freight volume in the future.

The group launched a modernization pro gram, Wave 2, to automate operational pro cesses throughout the brand's terminals with a significant focus on operational optimization and integration efforts.

As part of this executive modernization program, G&W had begun integrating tech

nologies that would enhance vehicle booking and gate management. For years, G&W had relied on Tideworks Technology (Tideworks)’ intermodal terminal operating systems (TOS); however, after the acquisition of Freightliner and Pentalver, G&W leadership conducted comprehensive analyses of existing vendors, and as part of the Wave ership wanted to assess market.

G&W needed a TOS integrate with the gate management tools, throughout the terminal,

Innovation for UK Rail with TOS Integrations

rail activity, all functions exacerbated by con gestion. Integrating terminal operating, vehi cle booking, and gate management systems would deliver data that could inform decisions across the UK supply chain.

Rigorous evaluation process

In 2018, as part of the executive moderniza tion plan, G&W's UK subsidiaries launched an extensive RFP process to search for the right TOS provider. The TOS provider G&W selected would serve as the solutions provider across its entire UK rail network, complete the inte gration and play a critical role to help G&W achieve the automation and scalability goals it had outlined. Tideworks was in the consid eration set, and G&W kicked off the expansive market assessment.

G&W’s rigorous evaluation process brought them to different sites across the U.S. to view live deployments of solutions on the market. Here, they spoke with actual us ers and a variety of terminal operators to get feedback and learn about their experiences with various providers.

After witnessing live deployments and re viewing various competitive bids, G&W select ed Tideworks as its TOS provider, more spe cifically, Tideworks' intermodal TOS solutions, Intermodal Pro and Traffic Control. With its demonstrated effectiveness in the market and ability to create a single, unified access point for multiple systems, Tideworks was the best fit for G&W's modernisation objectives.

Wave 2 program, new lead assess all providers on the

TOS solution that could vehicle booking and tools, drive automation terminal, and scale across dif

ferent sites. This was the first integration of its kind attempted across the company and the UK intermodal rail sector.

Freightliner and Pentalver also wanted to make better, data-driven business decisions and take the guesswork out of specific tasks like locating containers or keeping track of

In addition to Tideworks' operational pro ficiency, the group had worked with G&W’s other partners, Advent eModal, the world’s largest port community system, and Camco Technologies (Camco), a technology provider of gate automation solutions for container terminals, rail and intermodal terminals and Ro-Ro terminals. G&W knew that Tideworks’ existing relationships with these providers would support a seamless integration and make it feasible to establish a singular plat form for all the solutions..

Etihad Rail signs MOU at InnoTrans 2022 leading international railway companies

Etihad Rail signed four Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with interna tional companies SNCF International, France's national state-owned railway company; Alstom, a global leader in the green and smart mobility sector; Progress Rail, a Cat erpillar company, one of the world’s largest integrated and diversified suppliers of railroad and transit products and services worldwide, and Thales Group, a global leader in advanced technologies that provides its customers in the defence, aeronautics, space, transport, and digital identity and security domains with innovative and state-to-the-art solutions, ser vices and products.

The signing of the agreements took place in InnoTrans 2022, the leading international trade fair for transport technology, which was held in Berlin, Germany from 20-23 Septem ber 2022. The agreements, which were signed by officials from both sides, aim to support the UAE’s economic development by driving the growth of the rail industry in the UAE and the region, and cover key areas which include rail

operations and maintenance, service facilities, passenger stations, and cargo transportation, while ensuring the integration of the latest technologies, the exchange of knowledge and expertise, and investing in research and devel opment.

Ahmed Al Musawa, Executive Director of Passenger Sector at Etihad Rail, said: “Our partners play a key role in supporting us to achieve our mission of developing and oper ating a rail network that incorporates state-ofthe-art technologies, and provides safe, sus tainable, and reliable solutions.”

He added: “Through partnering with some of the biggest names in the rail, cargo, and transportation industry, we assure our cli ents that we are developing the UAE National Rail Network as per the highest international standards, to meet their requirements and support them in meeting their business ob jectives, driving a sustainable, resilient, and cost-effective supply chain.”

Under the terms of the MoU between Eti had Rail and SNCF International, the two par

ties will collaborate and in different areas of mutual areas include railway operations; tenance; workshops and sign, development and in the UAE; supply and maintenance rolling stock; mobility tions between various station services and facilities, Diego Diaz, President tional, said: “We believe foundation of a sustainable ternational salutes the Rail with their ambitious for rail transport. We are this co-operation.”

Last mile

The MoU between Etihad tres on the integration ogies and services in the part of the MoU, the two orate in areas, which include:

and explore opportunities mutual interest. These operations; train main and training sessions; de operations rail projects maintenance of railway and integration solu various modes of transport; facilities, among others.

President of SNCF Interna believe rail transport is the sustainable mobility. SNCF In commitment of Etihad ambitious and major projects are looking forward to Etihad Rail and Alstom cen integration of advanced technol the railway industry. As two parties will collab include: Railway innova

tions, from incubation to commercialisation, including innovative sustainability in the field of train technology; mobility and integration solutions between various modes of trans port; the performance of the railway, and sys tem’s life cycle performance.

Etihad Rail and Alstom will also work col laboratively on a first and last-mile strategy; digitalisation of mobility (MaaS system im plementation, logical systems/IT architecture, cybersecurity); testing and commissioning, operation and maintenance; rolling stock con figuration and facilities; the development of a learning ecosystem; local industrialisation, as well as other areas of interest.

“We are delighted to be collaborating with Etihad Rail as they build a strong transport ecosystem for the UAE and the region. Togeth er, we will focus on the digitalisation of the railway sector to optimise operations, main tenance, and enhance customer experience for the passenger service. In addition, we will help the transition to zero-emission solutions, with a focus on green tractions including solu tions for innovative and sustainable mobility”, said Mama Sougoufara, Alstom’s Managing Director for the MENAT region (Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey).

New partnership

The MoU with Thales also places a major focus on the digitisation of Etihad Rail’s ser vices. Under the terms of the MoU, the two parties will collaborate in various areas, which include: New generation rail control; Europe an Train Control System (ETSC) Level 3; driver

advisory system; intelligent traffic operation; asset management; real time passenger flow; data driven operation control centre; video analytics; connectivity and passenger enter tainment system; booking and ticketing sys tem, and mobility and integration solutions between various modes of transport.

Millar Crawford, Executive Vice-President of Ground Transportation Systems Thales, said: “We are very pleased to sign this MoU with Etihad Rail. This new partnership demon strates the key partner role played by Thales throughout the world to help its customers meet the challenges they have to face. It proves also the high recognition of Thales ex pertie in rail domain.”

In addition, the MoU with Progress Rail aims to discuss areas of cooperation to sup port sustainability in the railway industry through discussing potential opportunities for the development and deployment of an au tonomous, zero-emissions port-to-port con cept, which could serve as the foundation for future rail operations globally.

“Progress Rail is committed to providing sustainable solutions for customers like Etihad Rail,” commented Marty Haycraft, president and CEO of Progress Rail. “The foundational suite of technologies we are developing will serve railroads around the world with their decarbonisation journey.”

Etihad Rail was one of the key exhibitors in “InnoTrans 2022”, among other exhibitors in the railway and transportation sectors. With a stand covering 1,058 sq m, the company showcased the latest updates in the develop ment of the UAE National Rail Network.

Wabtec sign MOU with KTZ for FLXdrive battery shunters Alstom and Polo for additional 20 Alstom

Wabtec and Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for 150 FLXdrive battery-electric shunt ers and modernisation work to transform the mainline fleet into NextFuel liquid natural gas-powered (LNG) lo comotives. The investment marks the largest sustainable technology agreement by the CIS (Commonwealth of In dependent States) railroad, and will further revolutionise KTZ's mainline and yard operations, while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions and operating costs.

"Since early 2000, KTZ has been the regional trans portation leader in adopting state-of-the-art technologies and is honouring that legacy by pioneering the transition to a low-carbon rail network with Wabtec's FLXdrive bat tery-electric technology," said Rafael Santana, President and CEO for Wabtec. "Battery power is an ideal solution to reduce the environmental impact and costs of yard op erations. Using the FLXdrive in a rail yard can significantly improve local air quality and reduce noise for neighboring communities. We are proud to partner with KTZ on this strategic investment."

The shunters will be 100% battery powered with more than 1.5 megawatt hours of energy. These new shunters are a zero-emission solution for KTZ, enabling the railroad to reduce the fuel cost of its yard operations by approxi mately $75,000 per shunter per year. The FLXdrives also will reduce scheduled maintenance by up to 97% and avoid costly electrification investments.

To support KTZ's mainline fleet sustainability efforts, Wabtec will provide NextFue kits to convert the tradition al diesel locomotives to LNG; Wabtec's;NextFuel; LNG mainline locomotives will increase the operational range of travel by more than two-fold – from 1300 km to 3000 km and decrease fuel costs by up to 26%.

Wabtec and KTZ also will collaborate on digital solu tions for the fleet. The first digital product is Trip Optimiz er, providing fuel-efficient operation modes for freight trains to reduce fuel consumption by at least 5%.

will supply the leading nation al Italiam railway operator, Polo Mer citalia (Gruppo Ferrovie dello Stato), with 20 new genera tion Traxx DC3 electric loco motives, named E.494 in Ita ly. The delivery of these new units is scheduled to start ear ly 2024 and will be completed during that year.

These are 20 addition al units under the contract signed in December 2017 by Mercitalia Rail. Alstom has already delivered the 40 Traxx DC3 locomotives, which started commercial operation more than three years ago. The fleet’s locomotives will be included in the Full Main tenance programme provided by Alstom Italia Service.

“We are extremely proud that Polo Mercitalia, our long-standing customer and the first one to have invested in the Traxx DC3 high-power electric locomotive, has de cided to exercise this purchase option for a further 20 units in addition to the 40 already de livered," said Michele Viale, Managing Director of Alstom Italy and Chairman and CEO of Alstom Ferroviaria.

"This additional agreement is another proof of the trust that our customers have in our Group and in the Traxx DC3 product, which stands more than 160 units sold, of which around 90 are circulating on the Italian rail network."

Gianpiero Strisciuglio, CEO of Mercitalia Logistics said: "In order to make rail transport more sustainable and effi cient, it is essential to renew our fleet of locomotives and wagons.

Over a 10-year period, we plan to purchase 3,500 wag ons and more than 300 new generation, environmentallyfriendly electric and hybrid locomotives, including these 20. These locomotives are very innovative because they can be

Polo Mercitalia (FS Group) ink deal

20 Traxx DC3 electric locomotives

equipped to perform the last rail mile, penetrating directly into non-electrified areas such as inland terminals and ports with a quick power change, directly connecting rail trans port with other transport modes."

The Traxx DC3 is the latest generation of high-power electric locomotives that maximises efficiency, minimises maintenance interventions, and provides higher load and traction capacity with lower energy consumption. The Traxx DC3 locomotive is part of the Traxx 3 platform, the most modern four-axle locomotives in Europe.

The last 20 years in Europe has seen sales of over 2400 Traxx locomotives, with homologation in 20 countries and

a total annual distance covered of more than 300 million kilometres

All the Traxx DC3 locomotives designed for the Italian market will be produced at Alstom's Vado Ligure site.

The plant that has more than one hundred years of ex perience in the design and construction of locomotives, in cluding the latest generation of Traxx electric locomotives and it is a centre for production and maintenance of rolling stock and subsystems. A historic site, where more than 400 employees, are currently engaged in the manufacture of the latest generation of Traxx electric locomotives, as well as carrying out major overhauls of traction units.

Read all about it!

Stadler has taken its 80th an niversary as an opportunity to publish a new book about its history – which also rep resents a piece of Swiss railway his tory in general. The entertaining book, “Stadler – Von Bussnang in die Welt” (Stadler – from Bussnang to the world) with its stories about Stadler is a valuable complement to the publi cation “Stadler – Von der Stollenloko motive zum Doppelstockzug” (Stadler – from the mining locomotive to the double-decker train) by author Theo Weiss, which was published in 2010 and is now out of print.

Switzerland’s railway industry was once world-leading. Today it is again. Impressive names such as SLM or Sécheron, SIG or MFO are long gone, but with Stadler, another name has now moved into the consciousness of the railway world. During the Second World War, Ernst Stadler founded an engineering company that estab lished itself as a small niche player in the Swiss railway market before going on to write a unique chapter in Swiss industrial history from 1989 onwards. In this richly illustrated book of almost 300 pages, author Philipp Landmark does not claim to provide a complete account of the entire Stadler history. Instead, he uses individual stories to illustrate a series of essential developments that, taken together, have made Stadler what it is today. This makes the new book the ideal complement to the publication “Stadler – Von der Stol lenlokomotive zum Doppelstockzug”, which came out in 2010. Author Theo Weiss took a more technical and chronological approach to his volume, which is now out of print.

The decisive turn of events in 1989 is of course not neglected in the new book.

Peter Spuhler, who was just 30 years old at the time, acquired the compa ny and its then 18 employees; soon Stadler had developed the articulated railcar (GTW), its first own train. It be came a bestseller and Stadler’s rapid expansion began. The small train man ufacturer in the tranquil Thurgau town of Bussnang has long since become a globally active company with a best seller in the form of the FLIRT model, which can be configured as a regional or as an Intercity train. And a compa

Stadler publishes its history

ny that offers a comprehensive portfolio of vehicles ranging from metros and trams for ur ban centres to high-speed trains and powerful mainline locomotives. Nev ertheless, the tailor-made approach remains deeply anchored in Stadler’s consciousness: if the vehicle required by the customer does not yet exist, it is developed.

The new book is now available in the webshop at stadlerrail.com for 55 CHF.

delta southern railroad Delivers largest and heaviest load to date

Delta Southern Railroad, Inc., a privately held short line railroad company in North ern Louisiana, delivered a record-breaking Schnabel car from the Lake Providence interchange to Railcar Co., located in Madison Parish Port. One of the largest railcars ever built in North America, the Schnabel railcar manufactured by Emmert In ternational is specifically designed to carry oversized loads up to 1 million pounds, making this inaugural trans port a major achievement for the short line rail provider.

With 20 axles and an empty car length of just over 115 feet, the Sch nabel car is a complex system of spans

bolsters or frames linked through a suspended load between the two cars by lifting arms.

These arms are connected to a piv ot above an assembly that supports the weight of the load and the arms. For loads that do not require suspen sion, the Schnabel is equipped with a deck designed to carry loads up to 836,000 pounds in standard configu ration.

Due to their size, Schnabel railcars require two operators and travel at a maximum speed of 40 mph when not under load.

For this haul, Delta Southern deliv ered the Schnabel car, along with the flat car that carries the deck, over 20

miles of track to the Port in just over two hours.

“This particular rail delivery is a testament to the hard work of our leadership and team,” said Jon Ryan, CEO of Delta Southern.

“When the line was purchased in 2015, that connection was dormant. Through improved operations and a steadfast commitment to safety by our current ownership, our team can now move more and even larger freight from Lake Providence to Madi son Parish Port more efficiently.

"This extraordinary move should remind customers that when they call to ship something, large or small, we are ready to deliver,” Ryan added.

RELATIONSHIPS AND TRUST ARE KEYS

Doing business in Mexico is no different from anywhere else. But one thing that is truly val ued by our customers to the south is relation ships, according to those who work there.

“What’s most important to our customers is to honor your word and to build relationships based on honesty and truth,” Antonio Gomez, one of two BNSF market managers based in Mexico City, said.

Elisa Angles, a market manager in Queretaro, agreed. “A customer is looking for someone they can trust, who knows

their business and understands their processes,” she said.

“They are looking for someone who can answer and solve their problems, who speaks clearly and transparently.”

This transparency is especially important considering BNSF’s rail service physically begins or ends on the US side of the border.

It’s the solutions the team brings to the table – and com munication – that help to maintain and grow this business.

“We speak Spanish. We speak English. We understand the opportunities and challenges involved in Mexico ship ping, and we offer customers cross-border transportation expertise,” Paul Hirsch, As sistant Vice President of our Mexico Business Unit, said.

The business unit was established in 1997 as BNSF de México. Through direct access, trackage rights and service agreements, the business unit provides ship ping solutions for all types of commodities to rail-served destinations or via trans loading (for facilities that are not rail-served). An essen tial part of the BNSF Mexi co solution is having people based in Mexico.

“It’s important that we have a sales team in ma

From left: Victor Valdes, director, Mexico Market; Laura Hernandez, manager, Mexico Market, Mexico City; Elisa Angles, manager, Mexico Market, Queretaro; and Antonio Gomez, manag er, Mexico Market, Mexico

KEYS TO BNSF MEXICO’S SUCCESS

jor Mexico centres, where we can build relationships with customers, other railroads, brokers and authorities,” Hirsch said, noting that the sales staff, which also includes a team in Monterrey, must be very adaptable as the country’s markets, regulations and administration change.

'In our culture' Laura Hernandez, the other market manager based in Mexico City, added: “In our culture, it’s about meeting and knowing people, so by being here in Mexico, we have the opportunity to grow the best network in the industry, plus we are also

immediately aware of the political and industry changes.”

Angles has been with BNSF Mexico for over 20 years, hav ing previously worked for another railroad and in the chem icals industry.

Both experiences – and the relationships she’d estab lished -- help her as she meets with customers to discuss BNSF services.

“When I call on a customer the first time, I’ve done my research to understand their transportation issues,” she said.

As an example, a Mexican petrochemicals company that had shipped polyethylene to a US port via barge decided to move the product on rail.

They’d leased 400 hopper cars but weren’t familiar with how best to move by rail, so Angles explained how BNSF service could work for them. “I started by asking, ‘How can we help?” she said. Now the loads are moving by another carrier to the border, then on BNSF to an inland production plant in the US.

The sales managers not only manage the relationships, but also work closely with teams in the US and Canada. Our superior service comes from the team work between Sales & Marketing, Op erations, Customer Support and Border Support teams that work very closely to ensure freight has clearance prior to reaching the border and that trains move efficiently 24/7.

Currently, about one third of BNSF’s

From left: Victor Dominguez, manager, Mexico Market, Monterrey; Cher Castillejos, analyst, Border Support; Blanca Cantu, analyst, Border Support; and Juan Ramos, manager, Mexico Market, Monterrey.

RELATIONSHIPS AND TRUST KEY FOR BNSF IN MEXICO

business with Mexico is agricultural –corn, soybeans and wheat. Notably, BNSF was the first to pioneer shuttle trains, a dedicated train made up of 100 hopper cars, into Mexico.

Another third is in Industrial Prod ucts including steel, rail equipment and chemical and plastics, with the rest in Automotive and the greatest potential in Intermodal.

“Even after so many years of rail privatization in Mexico, we continue to introduce customers to rail and in termodal, which is the fastest-grow ing segment and how automotive parts, food and beverages and appli ances move to the US,” Hirsch said.

“Our customers recognise that while our tracks are not physically in Mexico, we have the people and add the value to be their preferred carri er.”

Since the business unit was estab lished, those value-added relation ships have made all the difference.

In 2021, there were around 350,000 units – containers and car loads – that either originated from or were destined to Mexico on BNSF.

BNSF locomotives operate over the Rio Grande between Eagle Pass, Texas, and Piedras Negras, Mexico.

UIRR'S EDICT PROJECT LAUNCHED

The EDICT Project of the International Union for Road-Rail Combined Transport (UIRR) was launched on Wednesday 21 September in Berlin with UIRR President Ralf-Charley Schultze , UIRR Technical Di rector Eric Feyen as well as representatives of Hupac Group, Port of Rotterdam, ProRail, CIS, European Union Agency for Railways, RailNetEurope (RNE), Kombiverkehr GmbH & Co. KG, Combinant nv, Rail Cargo Group, duisport - Duisburger Hafen AG, WienCont GmbH, DB Netz AG, as well as PLANCO CONSULTING GmbH and Ad Toet for the project manage ment and representatives of the #dutchembassy in Berlin as hosts.

EDICT will carry forward the electronic prediction of the estimated time of arrival (ELETA), as well as develop the quality management system Q-ELETA.

The Brussels-based UIRR was created in 1970, the Inter national Union for Road-Rail Combined Transport (UIRR) is the industry association for the sector of combined trans port in brussels. its members are combined transport oper ators and combined transport terminals.

UIRR actively promotes combined transport, primar ily towards european decision-makers and facilitates the enhancement of the sector, while also supporting the daily

functioning of this ecologically and economically sustainable mode of long(er) distance freight transport.

'RIDING SUICIDE'

Freight

train cars are not de signed for human riders; hopping on (or off) mov ing trains bears serious risk of dismemberment or death. In March 1899, Welsh "tramp-poet" W. H. Davies lost the lower part of his right leg after jumping a train at Renfrew, Ontario. The incident is recounted in his 1908 book The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp. Freighthopping or trainhopping

is the act of surreptitiously board ing and riding a freight railroad car, which is usually illegal.

In the United States, this be came a common means of trans portation following the Amer ican Civil War as the railroads began pushing westward, espe cially among migrant workers who became known as "hobos". It con tinued to be widely used by those unable to afford other transpor

tation, especially during times of widespread economic dislocation such as the Great Depression of the 1930s.

For a variety of reasons the practice is less common today, although a community of freighttrain riders still exists

The 1944 Balvano train disaster involved (and was partially caused by) hundreds of freighthoppers. YouTuber hobestobe, aka Stobe

Railway Reading

ON THE LINE

the Hobo, was killed while freight hopping when he got snagged on a passing Amtrak train. Riding in a car itself can be dangerous too; freight cars often do not have floors, only narrow steel beams with the speeding tracks under neath. Riding on these beams is referred to by hobos and hoppers as "riding suicide," for their obvi ous danger. Being in a loaded car with shifting, heavy cargo can also be dangerous.

Moving railroad car Freighthopping or trainhopping is the act of surreptitiously boarding and riding a freight railroad car, which is usually illegal. In the Unit ed States, this became a common means of transportation following the American Civil War as the rail roads began pushing westward, especially among migrant workers who became known as "hobos".

It continued to be widely used by those unable to afford other trans portation, especially during times of widespread economic disloca tion such as the Great Depression.

For a variety of reasons the practice is less common today, although a community of freighttrain riders still exists.

Not train surfing Freight-hopping is not to be con fused with 'train surfing' events. It is a common and usual way to ride trains in countries such as Bangla desh and South Africa, where this type of riding by trains is com

pelled due to the high population density and severe overcrowding of trains. This practice is a serious issue in these countries where people have been killed or injured in numerous accidents.

However, train surfing can oc cur in any area with trains and trams.

Individuals may train-surf to avoid the cost of a ticket or as a recreational activity.

Modern freight-hopping Hopping trains still happens all over the world and varies from place to place.

Some places are more critical and consider freight -hopping a crime and other places are more lenient.

In the United States, Union Pa cific encourages people who wit

ness transients on freight trains to report them to its dispatch center.

It is estimated that yearly in Mexico between 400,000 and 500,000 migrants, the majority of whom are from El Salvador, Gua temala, and Honduras, hop freight trains in the effort to reach the United States.

Curiously, in Mauritania, the Mauritania Railway, freight-hop pers are allowed to ride with their cargo freely due to the lack of road between the key cities of Zouérat and Nouadhibou.

The trio above have loaded vid eos to the internet of themselves freight-hopping in Ukraine and Russia.

Nowadays, freight-hopping is as likely to be undertaken as a means of leisure activity as it is to travel cost-free long distance by freight train.

KEEP THE DATE: Railway industry calendar of events

27 September Worldwide World Freight Train Day

30 September Manchester, UK Rail in the North of England

04-06 October Berlin, Germany EPCA Annual Meeting

05 October London, UK RFG Annual Conference

05-07 October Prague, Chezchia International Rail Forum Conference

12-13 October Germany Rail Infra Forum

13-14 October Nis, Serbia Railcon

19-20 October Debrecen, Hungary Rail Freight on Tour

19-20 October Jakarta, Indonesia RailwayTech Indonesia

19-21 October Berlin, Germany Deutsche Logistik Kongress

November TBC Barcelona, Spain BCNRAIL Internacional Rail Forum

07-09 November Warsaw, Poland 9th International Transport & Logistics Exhibition

08-10 November Amsterdam, Netherlands Intermodal Europe

09 November Stockholm, Sweden Scandinavian Rail Optimisation

14-17 November Lisbon, Portugal Transport Research Arena

15-17 November TBC Intelligent Rail Summit 2022

29 Nov - 01 Dec Malaga, Spain Rail Live 2022

06 December London, UK Rail Industry Forum 2022

07-08 December Duisberg, Germany European Silk Road Summit

08 December Paris, France 101st UIC General Assembly

2023

07 February London, UK Rolling Stock Forum 2023

28-30 March Lille France 13th International Exhibition of Railway Technology

09-11 May Birmingham, UK Railtex

03-05 October Milan, Italy Expo Ferroviaria

If you would like your event listed here free of charge, just send details to freighttracks@gmail.com