Freight Tracks issue 18

The Art of Railway

SO

the Date Railway industry events

WORLD FREIGHT TRAIN DAY 2023

After the positive reaction to the soft launch of World Freight Train Day 2022, we are beginning to plan World Freight Train Day 2023.

We welcome any reader who wants to get in at the start of planning WFTD23. Just get in touch.

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WILL ENERGY PRICES MODAL SHIFT OBJECTIVES?

Ina Joint Position Paper, the CER (Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies) and EFRA (European Rail Freight Asso ciation) predict that supply and pricing of energy threaten Europe’s modal shift ob jectives.

The ongoing crisis in European ener gy markets triggered by the Russian war against Ukraine will have a significant impact on all sectors. Despite its energy efficiency, rail transportation is no exemp tion.

Actions taken by member states have been disjointed and there is little, if any, clarity on how state support for rail trans port will evolve over the coming months. It is essential that the European Commis sion and member states develop a strategy which protects the EU's modal shift ob jectives and ensures uninterrupted energy supply for rail transportation.

Maintaining and increasing the modal share of rail is imperative for the Europe an Green Deal. Sustainability comes to mind first – where rail is seven times more energy efficient than road and 15 times more than air transportation – but, in to day’s environment, systemic relevance for issues such as travel of refugees and grain transportation from Ukraine are at least as important. Nevertheless, rail freight and passenger modal share is at serious risk due to energy price developments.

Energy amounts to approximately 10-20% of rail undertaking’s cost base and with electricity prices increases at high multiples of those of diesel, it is only natural that shippers will revert to road

transport wherever possible – especially since they are also margin-squeezed by the energy price increases.

According to the CER energy survey, the traction electricity price in rail freight and pas senger doubled for the period 2021 and 2022. The survey also revealed that railway companies, in particular freight operators usually do not hedge their energy contracts thus continue to be exposed to the high volatility of the energy market. In some member states, applying hedging mech anism is not even a possibility to railway undertakings due to access mechanisms to electricity. Such price developments over the past months vary greatly between member states for rail freight. Some mem ber states (Belgium, Germany, Nether lands) have not interfered in the market, which in some cases has resulted in a 10fold increase in prices.

In Germany, for example, wholesale market prices have increased from €50 MWh to €600 MWh.

In other member states, the political decision has already been taken to support rail freight through a capping of energy

prices to 2021 levels with state aid being provided to the infrastructure manager to compensate for the difference between the cost charged to railway undertakings and the real electricity cost.

Supply of energy for rail freight

On top of this, there are situations where member states have not interfered in sup ply of energy for rail freight but simulta neously introduced support measures for road transportation. This can be observed in Germany and Portugal which has intro duced price reductions for diesel without any support for rail freight. Such policy measures create competition distortion

PRICES SINK EUROPE’S OBJECTIVES?

cancellations, lost baggage and very high ticket prices this summer. In Europe, trains offer more reliable and climate-friendly alternative. Rail should be able to compete with avia tion in equal terms when it comes to taxation of fuels, impacting energy prices. Given rail freight’s important role in transport ing agricultural products from Ukraine, alleviat ing supply chain bottlenecks issues

between modes of transport and under mine the European Union’s ability to meet the targets set out in the European Sus tainable and Smart Mobility Strategy of a 50% growth of rail freight volumes by 2030.

A strategic vision is therefore required at a European level, joining up transpor tation needs with climate goals, which identifies how to keep railway operations uninterrupted the coming months when energy shortages and further increases in prices will be genuine risks.

The rapid recovery in air travel after the COVID-19 pandemic together with shortages in staffing at airports and air lines resulted in record number of flight

in ports and fulfilling Europe’s energy sup ply needs, it is critical that rail freight is identified as being of strategic importance and receives the necessary support.

Unable to expand operations

Without such policies, not only will rail undertakings need to pass existing infla tion impacts, but also the much higher energy costs to consumers - undermin ing the competitiveness of the European economy - but will be unable to expand operations and, in some cases, many un dertakings will be faced with the real pros pect of having to leave markets or even face bankruptcy.

The European rail sector therefore calls on the European Commission to:

n Introduce price caps for energy for rail transportation in emergency legislation aimed at tackling rising end-user energy costs – alternatively reducing rail under taking’s cost through emergency subsidy schemes (for example, lowering of track access charges with full compensation to Infrastructure managers by the Member States);

n Identify rail as a strategic service which should be prioritized in the supply of en ergy as a short-term measure;

n Where required, allow member states to provide State Aid to infrastructure managers or energy suppliers/sellers to compensate for the difference in price between the price for 2023 by ensuring that energy prices valid for 2022 are main tained and further delivery periods if they are subject to price caps for energy.

The European rail sector also calls on Member States to:

n Take actions already now to ensure that energy prices do not become unsustain able over the coming weeks;

n Ensure that there is a multimodal ap proach adopted to support measures which avoids competition distortion be tween modes of transport;

n Support industry initiatives to deliver a price cap for energy for strategic services such as rail transport and ensure flexibili ty of implementation regarding differently structured competitive national energy markets.

UK’s First Zero-Emission ServicE To Launch

Offering a zero-emission sustain able alternative to parcel lo gistics in the UK, from Autumn 2022 Varamis will be launching its ful ly-electric, express rail freight service connecting Glasgow and Birmingham.

The business model is simple: Re-purposed passenger trains capable travelling at 100 mph and utilising ex isting rail infrastructure to ensure the ‘trunk’ mileage of parcel logistics can be achieved both efficiently and with zero carbon impact. Within the initial three years of operation, it is estimated near ly 40,000 tonnes of CO2 can be miti gated through a fully utilised Varamis 12-car service operating on a national programme.

Commenting on the new licence and service, Varamis Rail Managing Direc tor, Phil Read said: “The team at Vara mis Rail are delighted to be granted our Freight Operating License, which now makes us the UK’s newest and greenest train operator.

“It’s been quite a journey for the whole team since 2020 and I am very proud of the shared determination, en deavour, and passion to bring a cleaner, greener & speedier rail service to the freight and logistics sectors. We are now working even harder to run our fully-electric rail logistics service from mid-October between Glasgow and Bir mingham; Monday to Friday, five-nights per week.”

Rigorous process

Going on to thank the ORR, Read add

ed “The ORR has been a great help throughout this rigorous process and we would particularly like to acknowl edge the support and guidance we re ceive from our legal team at Stephen son Harwood. There’s also a special mention to Richard Allen, our Insur ance Broker at Jobson James Rail, for arranging all of our third party liability insurance to meet the required stan dards stipulated by the ORR, a very in tensive process in itself.”

Varamis Rail will be signing a lease to acquire its first train in time for its October launch; a fully-electric, for mer passenger train re-purposed with

a sole focus on delivering the UK’s first high-speed and green logistics service. An extensive trial, operating services between Glasgow and Birmingham, will allow new customers to build con fidence in Varamis Rail and expansion plans include additional re-purposed trains coming into the fleet to serve London from May 2023.

With commercial businesses now actively seeking viable and proven lo gistics alternatives in support of en vironment and social governance de mands, the launch of this truly zero carbon service will be a real boost to ESG reporting objectives.

Zero-Emission Rail Logistics

STOP PRESS

IWISHTOBEATRAIN

After his love for his toy freight trains and bin lorries helped him through his cancer treatment, fiveyear-old Josiah’s wish to be a freight train driver allowed him to fully immerse himself into the world of

trains. Finally, Josiah was able to emerge from the dark tunnel of childhood cancer and experience the light and joy of commanding his own freight train, which was fittingly named ‘Josiah’s wish’.

InJanuary 2022, when Mum Emma and dad Francis noticed that the right side of Josiah’s neck was swol len, they took him to the GP. After many tests and lastly a biopsy, they were told something that no parent wishes to discover: their five-year-old son had a rare form of cancer, lymphocyte predominant non Hodgkins lymphoma. The 200 diagnoses a year is enough to highlight the rarity of LPNHL.

However, with only 20 of these diagnoses being children, Josiah’s parents were overwhelmed with fear. Emma explained that "the fact the cancer was rare made it even worse".

The impact of the diagnosis was felt by the whole family.

"We were in the process of moving to Australia for dad’s work- but this had to stop due to Josiah’s diagnosis." said Emma.

As mum Emma explained: "When you’re going through Hell, you

is back in school and full of beans. Throughout his experience with childhood cancer Josiah’s fixation with freight trains has remained. In the words of mum Emma he’s "com pletely obsessed with trains!"

have to keep going". After experi encing the unimaginable, watching their child go through four rounds of intense chemotherapy which resulted in hair loss and nausea for Josiah, an MRI revealed that Josiah was can cer free. Josiah is a bubbly boy who

Josiah’s love for trains started at a young age. Like most young children, at the age of two Josiah started watching Thomas the Tank Engine, sparking his admiration for trains. "He’s very smart, he even teaches me about trains," said Emma, "his mind is very mathematically, and engineering orientated".

E

ven at the age of five, Josiah has a strong interest in the world of engineering and is always curious to

ATRAINDRIVER!

figure out how trains and engines work.

This is why Josiah’s wish mattered so much to him: as he operated his very own freight train, he was able to immerse himself into the world of rail transporta tion. Despite undergoing countless blood tests and MRI scans, mum Emma ex plained that Josiah was "incredibly brave, he didn’t complain once- his wish was a great way to say well done".

Josiah was thrilled to be a freight train driver for a day. "He was super excited," said mum Emma. "He was reading up on all the train parts and preparing questions for the engineers."

Josiah’s

excitement never faded throughout the day- and nor did his radiant smile. His excitement was shared by the whole family, with little sister Beatrice and brother Henry tagging along for a ride on Josiah’s freight train. But in the words of mum Emma, the best part of the wish for the family was "seeing Josiah happy".

As Josiah’s smile beams from ear to ear, it's clear that his wish has truly created a wealth of positive mem ories. As Emma explained, "we hope that rather than remembering his cancer treatment, he’ll remember his wish from this point in his life".

The wish offered the Woods family a bea con of happiness, one that was urgently needed after seeing young Josiah undergo intense cancer treatments. "You have to find joy in the darkness," said Emma, "We couldn’t have done this by ourselves, so we’re incredibly grateful to G&W Freightliner and Make-AWish."

VIEW from HERMES House

A FAIR DEAL FOR RAIL FREIGHT

Kate Jennings, Director of Policy, Logistics UK

Aswe prepared to celebrate the inaugural World Freight Train Day, it was timely to share why, for Great British Railways (GBR) and rail reform, Logistics UK is calling for equal treatment for rail freight.

Rail freight does not currently have the same priority as passenger rail. This is evidenced by the initial draft proposals for GBR, which have a core duty for passengers but none for freight.

As Britain’s railways are amongst the busiest in the world and all lines are mixed mode - they operate passenger and freight trains on a single network) pre-covid passenger growth had seen freight increasingly pushed into the margins of the timetable. Key freight links like the North London line are increasingly used for passengers.

Significant new investments like Transpennine, HS2 and East West Rail consider rail freight as an afterthought. This was good for passenger revenues but post coronavirus, when passenger travelling patterns have changed, now is the time to reset the relationship.

The UK is a crowded island, where congestion costs £6.9 billion annually and transport emissions now make up 27% of

UK emissions - based on 2019 govern ment data.

In order to reach government deadlines, transport needs to start de carbonising now. Rail freight provides multiple environmental benefits, reduc ing carbon emissions by up to 76% and improves air quality by as much as 16% when compared to road.

It also reduces congestion by mov ing freight off the roads, with a freight train able to transport as much as 76 HGVs worth.

Logistics UK welcomes GBR’s com mitment to a rail freight growth target. With the decline of coal – which was the single biggest commodity moved on the railways until recent years – rail freight has recovered; however, recov ery is not growth.

While the rail freight sector has successfully diversified away from coal, current overall freight volumes are approximately the same as 2000.

Commitment to growth will require a step change for example what Logis tics UK is calling the 4 Cs:

1. Clarity on priority routes for rail freight: The HS2 business plan com mits to release capacity for freight but it doesn't say where, when or how. We need a national network for rail freight.

2. Clarity on pricing: The National Infrastructure Commission is preparing the next five year National Infrastruc ture Assessment. They have committed to look at road pricing but they must

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commit to look at rail pricing as well as fair pricing is the only way to fully incentivise rail freight and make best use of the transport network.

3. Commitment now to electri fication of key freight paths: We need optimise the mainlines for freight success and electrification is the only power source with the capability to do this. Electrification also solves air quality concerns.

4. Clarity on hydrogen and fuels: Should global investors take UK hydro gen rail and biofuels seriously or are we prioritising hydrogen for heat and zero carbon fuels for aviation? Further clarity and certainty is needed for busi ness confidence.

Clear opportunities

In the last decade, private sector investment in the rail industry has to talled £8.2 billion. Should GBR get this right, there are clear opportunities to build on this public private partnership. As the world tips towards potential recession, neither taxpayers nor busi nesses can afford to take chances on investment.

Equal treatment and a clear plan now will set the tone for future invest ment.

A duty for passengers with none for freight would tell us all we need to know about whether GBR is serious about rail freight.

BNSF’S ‘LOCO’ FOR UNIQUE

AtBNSF, we love orange. You may be used to seeing our bright or ange locomotives moving down the tracks, but there are a few that look a bit different and have inter esting backstories. Keep an eye out, and you may be lucky enough to spot them!

Eric Goodman, manager, Economic Development and long-time railfan, pro vided insight on some of BNSF’s locomo tives that sport a different look than the norm..

SMURFS

These iconic blue locomotives are the only BNSF units in this colour and are sometimes referred to informally by US railfans as “Smurfs,” evoking the animated TV show. These are switcher engines, small, low-horsepower locomotives used to move rail cars inside of a rail yard/ BNSF bought them from another railroad and rath er than repainting them kept the blue colour scheme.

Of the original 10 units that BNSF purchased, only one or two remain in the blue and white paint colour scheme.

GREAT PUMPKIN

The “Great Pumpkin” was a test paint scheme fol lowing the 1995 BNSF merger between Burlington Northern and Santa Fe. These locomotives stand out from the rest of the fleet because of their distinctive green and orange paint, hence the name “Great Pump kin.” This locomotive has two different paint schemes, one on each side for comparison purposes, which remain today. This locomotive was originally numbered 9297 but has since been renumbered as 1474.

GOLDEN SWOOSH

The “Golden swoosh” locomotive was also a test paint scheme, this time when BNSF was rebranding in the early 2000s.

BNSF tested the golden-yellow letters as the BNSF logo before deciding on the current paint scheme with its black logo.

This locomotive was also the inaugural example to embody the current “swoosh” font instead of the previous “wagon wheel” design.

BNSF 7695 above is the only one of these in exis tence!

UNIQUE LOC0MOTIVES

By BNSF

Microsoft Train Simulator

This locomotive, No. 4723, was featured in the Mic rosoft Train Simulator computer game, which was very popular with railfans upon its release in 2001.

The locomotive Microsoft modeled the simulator after has a decal on the side today that reads “Micro soft Train Simulator – Featured Locomotive.”

Executive Scheme (“Grinstein Green”)

This cream and green paint scheme, featured on a small number of locomotives, is named after Gerald Grinstein, former CEO of BNSF predecessor Burlington Northern. It is sometimes referred to as “Grinstein Green.” This scheme originally came out in 1993 on the Burlington Northern and were almost all on coal service and were ac-traction units. Some people also call this the Eddie Bauer paint scheme because of the colouring.

While it is a unique design, this scheme divides rail fans, some have an appreciation for it and some don’t.

25TH ANNIVERSARY

In honour of the 25th anniversary of the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe merger, BNSF created a paint scheme for 10 locomotives in 2020. These locomotives feature logos of our major predecessor lines on both sides. “It was my project, and it was a lot of fun,” Good man said. “We wanted to do something to honour the railroads that made up our heritage. Sometimes the anniversary locomotives are used for the CEO inspec tion trips.”

BICENTENNIAL PAINT SCHEME

It was 1976, and the US was celebrating its 200th birthday by turning everything red, white and blue. The Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, a BNSF predecessor, got in on the patriotic wave, painting five locomotives numbered 5700-5704 in a unique bicen tennial scheme.

5704, renumbered to BNSF 6484, retired in 2008 and bound for scrap in 2020 after four decades and millions of miles of service.

5704’s appearance in 2022 is true to its appearance in 1976.

NS COMMITS $400K TO COMBAT FOOD INSECURITY

Norfolk

Southern Corporation has announced a commitment of $400,000 in grants to 31 food banks located across the states served by the company.

The funds and continued partnership with these food banks will directly support local efforts to combat food insecurity, as well as other assistance initiatives supporting children, families and senior citizens. This latest set of grants builds on Norfolk Southern’s longstanding commitment of supporting these critical community organisations.

"Every community is home to families impacted by food insecurity. Norfolk Southern is furthering its partnership with more than 30 food banks to feed and assist those in need,” said Kristin Wong, Director of Corporate Giving at Norfolk Southern.

According to the United States Department of Agricul ture (USDA), more than 34 million people in the country, including nine million children, are food insecure.

Many US households that experience food insecurity do not qualify for federal nutrition programmes and visit their local food banks and other food programmes for extra support.

FOOD BANKS RECEIVING A GRANT FROM NORFOLK SOUTHERN INCLUDE:

America ' s Second Harvest of Coastal

Georgia

Atlanta Community Food Bank

Central Illinois Foodbank

Central Pennsylvania Foodbank

Chattanooga Area Food Bank

Community Food Bank of Central Alabama

Community Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Indiana

Facing Hunger Foodbank WV

Feeding Southwest Virginia Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri

Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina Food Bank of Delaware

Food Bank of Northeast Georgia Food Bank of Northern Indiana Food Finders Food Bank IN Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia Freestore Foodbank OH Gleaners IN

God ' s Pantry Food Bank KY

Greater Chicago Food Depository

Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank

Harvesters MO

Lowcountry Food Bank SC Mid-Ohio Food Bank

Montgomery Area Food Bank

Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee

Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina

Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio

Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee

Toledo Northwest Ohio Food Bank

Tri-State Food Bank IN

NCRR's new Vice President, Government Affairs

TheNorth Carolina Railroad Company has welcomed Chris Dillon as its new Vice President, Government Affairs. Dillon previously served as the Senior As sistant County Manager for Wake County, where he was the supervisor of transportation, economic develop ment, workforce development and elections teams.

“We are excited that Chris is join ing the NCRR team,” says NCRR Presi dent and CEO, Carl Warren.

Wealth of experience

“He brings a wealth of experience ranging from transportation, eco nomic development and government relations, and his expertise will play a significant role with developing part

nerships within our local communities," said Warren.

Prior to working for Wake County, Dillon was the Di rector of Governmental Affairs for the North Carolina Wild life Resources Commission.

“After serving North Carolina for 22 years in the public sector, I am humbled and excited to join the NCRR team,” says Dillon.

“I am excited to assist in the im plementation of the mission to ben efit the people of North Carolina by aggressively leveraging the unique strengths and capabilities of the North Carolina Railroad Company.

"This opportunity comes at a unique time in North Carolina’s histo ry were once again, rail infrastructure will be the leading edge of our contin ued success.”

CargoBeamer operates Marseille

North to south: First intermodal train for semi-trailers from Port of Marseille Fos

CargoBeamer

wrote intermodal history by suc cessfully running the first ever train with trail ers between Marseille and Calais. The train serves as the first successful railway line for unaccompanied transport of craneable and non-craneable semi-trailers on rail, a field CargoBeamer is specialised in.

Travelling from the Port of Marseille Fos to the Car goBeamer-Terminal in Calais, the service enabled 28 units to be transported on sustainable rail instead of the road.

Like all CargoBeamer lanes, the train consisted of both CargoBeamer-railcars and twin pocket wagons. Traction was provided by DB Cargo France. In Marseille, the train was handled inside the Marseille Manuten tion Ro-Ro Terminal, owned by CMA Terminals, a 100% branch of CMA-CGM Group.

By transporting semi-trailers from Marseille to Calais on rail instead of the road, each loading unit reduced its CO2-footprint by around 90%. For the whole train, this means reducing carbon emissions by around 30.8 tonnes of carbon emissions compared to road transport.

Intercontinental connections via Marseille

The Port of Marseille Fos serves as the leading port in France and one of the largest ports in Europe. In 2021, it recorded an annual volume of 1.5 million TEU.

With 90 direct shipping lines, Marseille connects southern France to locations in Northern Africa and the Mediterranean, while also offering routes around the globe.

Tim Krasowka, Managing Director of CargoBeamer in termodal operations, says: "I am pleased to see the suc

cessful completion of our first test train between Mar seille and Calais. In the Port of Marseille Fos, we have a connected a highly interesting location in international supply chains to unaccompanied transport of semi-trail ers on rail for the first time. Considering the fast growth of both the ports’ volumes and intermodal business in France, we are looking forward to exploring options of

Marseille and Calais test

opening another CargoBeamer lane in this area.”

Hervé Martel, President of the Port of Marseille Fos, says: "The port of Marseille Fos has decided to fully sup port the destination growth in order to enhance its dyna mism and development, as well as its attraction by offer ing with its partners many economically interesting and environmentally friendly logistics solutions. This kind of

new project initiated by CargoBeamer helps the port to position itself as one of the main RoRo hubs in the Med iterrean Sea area.

"This road to rail solution is contributing to reduce efficiently the CO2 emissions, which is, indeed, a strong axis of the port strategy. We really hope this train will bring many others!"

MANDAN AND BISMARCK LONG HISTORY WITH

Asit winds across the North Dakota plains, a freight train slows and stops in a busy rail yard. Tall grass es wave in the breeze, and verdant trees shade the streets that run through the friendly metropolitan area. Nestled on both sides of the mighty Missouri River are two towns that are rich in history and enjoy a bright future.

Welcome to the neighbouring cities of Bismarck and Mandan, North Dakota—two towns consistently ranked as “best small towns” and shared by generations of people known for their hospitality.

Railroads were built to connect people, products and places, which is why they feature prominently in US history. The Bis marck-Mandan area is no exception. The two began to develop with the arrival of the trans continental railroad in the summer of 1873. Bismarck-Mandan had become the west ernmost extension of the Northern Pacific Railway (NP), which needed to further its expansion. But the Missouri River was a major obstacle to transportation of railroad construction materials, with freight cars load ed onto ferries to cross the river.

High waters

High waters and ice at times prevented the ferries from operating, causing materials to

pile up on the bank until conditions improved. During the coldest months, railroad workers laid tracks across the frozen river. This was not only costly but also time-consuming and dangerous.

In 1882, engineers and workers com pleted the construction of a 1,426-foot-long (432m) railroad bridge, crossing the Missouri River from Bismarck to Mandan. To spur growth of towns along the tracks, NP adver tised its communities and lands in bulletins in several different languages as well as sent representatives to Germany, England and other European countries. The goal was to attract hard-working farmers to the North Dakota territory with the promise of free land through the Homestead Act.

As immigrants settled in their new homes,

they established farms, markets by rail. Communities tracks began to flourish, providing goods and services the region grow and thrive. Mandan were – and continue the state’s growth.

"Mandan [where BNSF ations] has experienced in its history,” Kathye Spilman Historical Society said.

“The very first was in the announcement of the bridge construction. The 1920s with the completion mobile bridge to the city. 1950s, it was the construction oil refinery."

West Main Street in Mandan, North Dakota, part

BISMARCK SHARE A WITH BNSF by BNSF

People are drawn to the Bismarck-Mandan area because of its thriving , great schools and low unemployment rates. The cities host corporate and regional offices for energy companies working in the state and are in the center of the state’s agriculture sector.

“Mandan runs many different types of commodities through the terminal,” Justin Selzler, BNSF Senior Trainmaster in Man dan, said.

“Coal is the main one, coming from the Powder River to power plants in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Next up is grain trains moving between the Midwest

farms, shipping crops to Communities along the flourish, with the railroad services that helped thrive. Bismarck and continue to be – vital to

BNSF has primary operexperienced three growth spurts Spilman of the Mandan

in the early 1870s with the location of the river The second was in the completion of the first auto city. Finally, in the early construction of the nearby

The cities are a hub with parks, muse ums, restaurants and other attractions that make the area an ideal place for families to call home. And all these years later, the river bridge that began the region’s initial growth spurt will be replaced with a modern railroad bridge built to last 100 years or more during a large-scale construction project lasting two to three years once it starts.

Shipping everything

In 2022, there are more than 200 BNSF employees in the area, with Mandan hosting one of our largest rail yards and one of two car shops in the state. Mechanical, signal and track employees, along with train crews, operate out of the downtown Mandan facility.

and the Pacific Northwest. Our locals on the north branch between Mandan and Beulah service many industries, shipping everything from coal, fertilizer, and fuel. During the summer months we have large amounts of aggregate moving from the east and west to local companies for use in local construction projects. We also see mixed freight trains hauling anything from autos to building prod ucts to food and clothing.”

BNSF continues to help identify opportu nities for growth near our tracks.

BNSF has been a strong advocate of community growth in the Bismarck-Mandan area. We’ve played a leading role in bringing people and goods to this region for the last 150 years – and that's not slowing down any time soon.

a n a n

Norfolk Southern Creates Network Operations and Transportation Operation

NorfolkSouthern has cre ated a combined Trans portation and Network Operations organisation led by Paul B Duncan, who has been promoted to Senior Vice President Transportation and Net work Operations and will lead the team responsible for designing network operations, executing network plans and co-ordinating the movement of trains across the company’s rail network.

“Since joining Norfolk Southern in March 2022, Paul has made an immediate, positive impact on our operations.

"He has led the creation of our new TOP|SPG operating plan while putting in place processes to improve service for our customers. Importantly, he is a collaborative

leader, and this newly combined or ganization will help us drive great er momentum and help hone our focus on creating growth for cus tomers and Norfolk Southern,” said Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Cindy Sanborn.

Duncan previously led Network Planning & Optimisation (NPO) and the Network Operations Cen ter (NOC).

The two teams are responsible for developing and implementing Norfolk Southern’s operating plan.

The addition of the Transportation Department, under the leader ship of Vice President Transporta tion Floyd Hudson, is set to bring together and strengthen all the Operations groups responsible for service improvement and quality at the railroad.

“The leadership team for this new organisation is rounded out by Jacob Elium, Rodney Moore and Floyd Hudson.

"They are dedicated profes sionals with broad and deep expe rience at Norfolk Southern. Impor tantly, this announcement reflects our solid pipeline of leaders and commitment to promoting top tal ent,” added Sanborn.

Vice President Network Opera tions, Moore will be responsible for overseeing the team that executes TOP|SPG through locomotive distribution, crew management and dispatch.

As Vice President NPO, Elium will lead the team that develops network operating plans and strate gies that drive service, productivity and growth.

Paul B. Duncan

Rodney Moore

Jacob Elium

It's the white stuff as CN releases

Dubbed

"Meeting the Challenge," the Canadi an National (CN) Winter Plan 2022 - 2023 is pre pared and submitted in accordance with, and as required by, section 151.01(2) of the Canada Transpor tation Act.

The Winter Plan details pro-ac tive and comprehensive actions, strategies and innovations. They are designed to help meet cus tomer demand by optimising op erations during the coming winter months. It is about maximising CN resources. The Plan is shaped by four thematic objectives: operating safely, delivering the best possible

service, increasing network pro ductivity and improving resiliency.

Winter is a defining feature of Canada’s character, says the rail way. For its more than 100 year ex istence, CN has annually dealt with and learned from winter’s harsh impact.

The inevitable challenges that demand resilience and determi nation to overcome have become "ingrained in CN’s corporate iden tity. For CN’s network, the impact of winter, whether it’s extreme cold, ice, heavy snow, or rain, fundamen tally affects what we do and how we do it. Winter weather also affects the productivity of processing fa

cilities or export terminals, whether that is preventing production facility staff from performing their respon sibilities during periods of severe wind chill, or whether heavy, per sistent rain delays grain loading operations at Canada’s West Coast ports.

"For these reasons, we all must plan accordingly to deal with the challenge of winter. We know that no two winters are alike and that we should expect the unexpected.

"Our goal is to ensure we have done everything possible to maxi mise CN’s ability to deliver the best possible service," says the compa ny.

releases its 2022-2023 Winter Plan

Tracy Robinson, CN President and CEO, said: " At CN, our focus is clear. We are committed to de livering reliable service to our cus tomers and to continuously improve our performance. We know that our capabilities can be tested, es pecially during the winter months, when cold, ice, snow and rain can severely impact the efficient opera tions of a railroad.

"To support our goal of meet ing our customers’ service needs, we have put in place our detailed Winter Plan for 2022–23. The plan sets out the actions we are taking to improve our operation, increase our resiliency and enhance our re covery capabilities during periods when winter impacts our ability to operate the railway at normal lev els."

The breadth of Canada

CN is North America’s most north ern Class I railway, with a network that stretches into the Northwest Territories and the northern region of Quebec. Its trains travel the breadth of Canada—from Prince Rupert, through the mountains, across the Prairies and northern Ontario, to Montreal and Halifax, all the way down to Louisiana in the US—and often encounter every imaginable test that a North Ameri can winter can deliver.

Planning means working with customers to anticipate and pre pare for demand during winter on an individual commodity basis. Some examples include: n Propane. Knowing propane demand grows significantly in winter, CN is advancing transload solutions across its North Ameri can network. The resulting options

increase the number of car spots available to handle and offload pro pane during the peak winter sea son.

n Forest products. CN is the largest rail carrier of forest products in North America. CN's Industrial Products team’s focus in advance of winter, is maximising the efficient utilization of rolling stock.

CN works with shippers and receivers to pre-position inventory at strategic transload points before winter arrives. Strategic transload and storage points within CN’s rail infrastructure network, along with CN partner shortlines, allow for faster overall transit times.

n Grain. CN incenting grain customers to invest in facility infra structure so that loaded grain trains are fully charged with air, reducing end to end cycle time and increas ing car velocity.

Capital investment

Sustained capital investment through the years, planned for 17% of annual revenues in 2022, is in creasing capacity and productivi ty. This winter, CN will have 1,950 high and mid horsepower locomo tives, a total greater than each of the two previous years.

CN recently acquired 57 high horsepower locomotives, 47 of which will be operating this fall and another 10 in Q1 2023. As well, 800 new high capacity boxcars will be delivered in early 2023, and 500 high efficiency hopper cars will be delivered during the 2022–23 crop year. In terms of operat ing crew base, CN has continued its determined hiring programme across the network to retain and attract employees, positioning

them where we need them across the network. CN’s employee head count as of the end of June 2022 was approximately 850 people higher compared to the beginning of 2022, with most of the increase in operating crew base.

Winter is a defining feature of Canada’s character

CN also anticipates graduat ing another 500 new conductors through the end of 2022 and will have rules qualified managers available to protect and support op erations during challenging winter conditions.

Revision of Train Drivers Directive needed to reflect reality of rail freight operations

According to the European Rail Freight Associa tion (ERFA), the revision of the European Com mission's Train Drivers Directive will play an im portant role in ensuring rail freight can achieve its modal shift objectives. With the closing of the public consultation on the revision of the Directive, it is important that the European Commission adopts an ap proach which ensures the train driver certification process en sures a high level of safety of op erations whilst also introducing greater flexibility and ensuring that language requirements do not become a bottleneck to the good functioning of the European rail freight market.

ERFA accepts the overall re quirements for language skills of train drivers. Reduced re quirements should however be allowed for border crossing areas and when operating on diversion routes for a limited period.

Changing of drivers

This is essential as without flexibility, the need for a chang ing of drivers and/or locomotives at national borders will increasingly lead to border crossings becoming bottlenecks for rail freight. In the short term, this can be achieved by lowering language requirements for train drivers on inter national traffic within a certain range of a border crossings with the necessary linguistic support in place by infrastruc

ture managers.

In addition, the existing exemptions of language require ments in countries with more than one official language should be maintained.

In the mid and long-term, work should continue towards the use of technical support (translation tools) and English as a standard language for rail freight operations, but it must be recognised that is not a shortterm fix. Any legislative proposal must introduce short-term solu tions to ensure internal borders do not become artificial barriers to traffic whilst also developing a long-term solution.

ERFA President, Dirk Stahl, stated: “The current situation, whereby rail freight undertakings are trying to operate in a European freight market with a drivers certification programme that is severely outdated, is undermining the sector’s ability to grow. Safety remains and will continue to be the ultimate priority in training. This can be achieved though whilst also developing a modern certification programme that contributes towards smoother border crossings and general operations.”

ERFA Secretary General, Conor Feighan, concluded: “Short and long-term solutions are needed in legislation. In the short-term, there is a need to explore how best to facil itate international freight trains. In the long-term though, work needs to continue towards technical support tools and a standardised language for train drivers, particularly those operating on international rail freight lines.”

Standard Rail Corporation welcomes Neil Cameron

Standard Rail Corporation (SRC), a pri vately-owned company providing rail solutions, has add ed Neil Cameron to the company’s adviso ry board.

M. Neil Cameron was the former Pres ident and Chief Exec utive Officer of NSC Minerals, a leading supplier in de-icing products in Western Canada and Mid-West ern United States.

He joined NSC Min erals Ltd. as Vice Pres ident of Operations in 2010, responsible for the assets and produc tion of the Company.

In 2013 he was pro moted to Chief Operat ing Office, taking over the responsibility for logistics and sales. Pri or to joining NSC Min erals Ltd., Mr. Camer on was President and Chief Executive Officer

of Peters’ Excavating, a Saskatoon, Saskatche wan-based excavating company serving the

sounding board as the company grows.”

Said Cameron: “I am very excited to join the Advisory Board of Standard Rail to continue the work with many of my for mer colleagues from NSC Miner als Ltd.”

“I believe Rob ert’s plan for the company is excit ing and visionary in the rail indus try.”

commercial and mu nicipal customers in and around Saskatoon.

“We look forward to benefitting from Neil’s leadership and experience," said Rob ert Skarzynski, CEO of Standard Rail.

“He will work closely with our lead ership team, providing advice and acting as a

Standard Rail Corporation is an industry-leading pro vider of rail services throughout North America.

The company pro vides a wide range of rail services including mechanical services, fleet management, advanced technology, derailment clean-up, and logistics and sup port services.

Mathias

Leiner joins management team of ERS Railways

On October 1 2022, Mathias Leiner started as second Managing Director at ERS Railways. In this position, he will take over the management of the Ham burg-based intermodal transport operator together with Managing Director Bernd Decker.

Leiner holds a degree in business administration and brings 15 years of management experience in the field of transport and logistics services. He has been at home in the world of rail freight transport and especially combined trans port since the very beginning.

He says:: "I have known ERS for many years as a dynamic

company with professional employees and a strong custom er structure.

Through the integration of ERS into the Hupac Group and the resulting synergies, I see great potential for the further development of the company."

Leiner is taking over the areas of business development and operations and is looking forward to the new tasks: "More intermodal transport for a more climate-friendly world – together we can further develop the system and con tribute to the growth of our industry with ever more efficient solutions," he says.

Maersk offers rail solution for Spanish reefer exports

Sealand,

a Maersk Company, subsidiary of Maersk and specialised on Intra-European logistics, is launching a new rail product from Spain to UK es pecially designed for temperature sensitive cargo like fruits and vegetables. The new transport op tion is tailored for Spanish fresh produce, has flexible capac ity and will initially have three weekly departures from Va lencia terminal to Barking terminal in East London. The trains will carry also non-refrigerated cargo on their southbound journey from UK back to Spain.

After successful trials in September with positive cus tomer feedback, the regular departures will start end of Oc tober, just in time for the Spanish peak season for fruit and vegetable exports.

Over 90% of these exports are going North resulting in up to 1,400 trucks daily crossing the northern Spanish border towards the main markets in UK, France, Benelux, Germany and Scandinavia.

Diego Perdones Montero, Area Managing Director, France, Iberia and Maghreb stated: “Our new product solves several challenges that our reefer customers in Spain are faced with when exporting: Firstly, many large retailers want

to reduce the carbon footprint of the products they sell. Sec ondly, we have a prevailing shortage of truck drivers, which means that currently cross-border road transport is often limited and unreliable. Thirdly, capacity and quality of the major roads are limited which leads to congestion. Our rail transport makes Spanish exporters independent from the driver shortage as well as road bottlenecks, and offers more than 90% lower CO2 emissions than a truck on the road.”

More destinations could follow, he adds, including inte grated ocean and rail solutions:

“Big customers – importers, growers and retailers alike –are operating with both, ocean and land-based cargo flows. By offering them our reliable landside distribution network via rail we will help to create faster, greener and more effi cient routes regardless of the origin and destination of the sensitive cargo.”

Furthermore, Maersk is simplifying and optimising its customers’ supply chains with a comprehensive offer of ad ditional logistics services. These range from customs broker age or cold storage to Captain Peter, a technology ensuring full data transparency about the condition of the cargo inside a reefer container along its whole journey

CUMMINS QSK95 ENGINE 'FULLY COMPATIBLE' WITH ECO DIESEL

has announced that its popular Tier 4 QSK95 engine can be safely used with renew able diesel, without any negative impact to its current EPA emission requirements or reliability.

Cummins

“Cummins is ready to assist customers on the decarbonisa tion journey. By working together, we can effect change for today’s climate crisis,” states Cum mins General Manager – Rail and Defense, Regina Barrin ger.”

Cummins partnered with Siemens Mobil ity to help cus tomers meet their goal of running renew able diesel in QSK95-pow ered Charger locomotives to reduce emis sions and use a fuel with lower carbon intensity. As such, Cummins undertook ex tensive testing and investigating of the impact of renewable diesel on their QSK95 Tier 4 fuel and after treatment systems through perfor mance, emissions, and durability tests. For these tests, hydrogenat ed vegetable oil (HVO) was cho sen.

HVO reduces well to work car bon intensity by up to 90% com

pared to conventional diesel fuel. HVO can be produced without fos sil resources by processing lipids such as vegetable oil, tallow, or used cooking oil. Its chemical and physical properties are like those of diesel fuel, but its fossil-free composition and low carbon con tent provides a simple and efficient alternative to diesel. Importantly, HVO can be blended and used in

in DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) con sumption

n up to 50% additional reduction in PM (Particulate Matter) emis sions using renewable diesel com pared to traditional diesel in rail ap plications.

“Siemens Chargers continue to transform passenger rail through out North America,” said Armin Kick, vice president of Locomotives and High-Speed Train sets, for Siemens Mobility in North America.

“Now being able to incorpo rate renewable fuel into Charger operations will al low our custom ers to make even more meaningful inroads into their sustainability efforts.”

any proportion with diesel which al lows for ease of transition.

The tests showed that the QSK95 engine not only meets all of its Tier 4 EPA emissions targets using this renewable fuel, it also re corded additional positive environ mental impacts:

n up to 13% additional reduction in NOx (Nitrogen Oxide) n up to 5% additional reduction

This initiative is a strong ex ample of Cummins’ overall com mitment to develop innovative solutions that enable decarbonisa tion, and proactively advance the company’s current technology to achieve industry-leading emissions reductions, says the Columbus, In diana-based company

Through Planet 2050, Cummins pledges to address climate change and use resources wisely.

BNSF

Railway plans to invest more than $1.5 billion to construct a state-of-the-art master-planned rail facility in Southern California – and the first being developed by a Class 1 railroad. The Barstow Inter national Gateway will be an approximately 4,500-acre (1821 Ha) new integrated rail facility on the west side of Barstow, consisting of a rail yard, intermodal facility and warehouses for transloading freight from international containers to do mestic containers.

The facility will allow the direct transfer of containers from ships at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to trains for transport through the Alameda Corridor onto the BNSF mainline up to Barstow. Once the containers reach the Barstow International Gateway, they will be processed at the facility using clean-energy powered cargo-handling equip ment, and then staged and built into trains moving east via BNSF’s network across the nation. Westbound freight will similarly be processed at the facility to more efficiently bring trains to the ports and other California terminals.

“By allowing for more efficient transfer of cargo directly

between ships and rail, the Barstow International Gateway will maximise rail and distribution efficiency regionally and across the US supply chain and reduce truck traffic and free way congestion in the Los Angeles Basin and the Inland Em pire,” said Katie Farmer, President and CEO of BNSF. “This will play a critical role in improving fluidity throughout our rail network, moving containers off the ports quicker, and facil itating improved efficiency at our existing intermodal hubs, including those in the Midwest and Texas. The facility will also have an important positive economic impact, including the creation of new, local railroad jobs.” she said.

Critical role in moving goods

“The significance of BNSF’s investment to improve the supply chain here in California cannot be overstated. Rail plays a critical role in moving goods safely and efficiently, while reducing emissions due to congestion in many of our high-traffic corridors,” said Trelynd Bradley, Deputy Director of Sustainable Freight and Supply Chain Development at the

BNSF to Build BIG AT Barstow

Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development. He added, “Projects like BNSF’s will work to strengthen our inland local economies, such as that of Barstow in San Ber nardino County. We look forward to continuing to work with projects like these, as well as others, to drive transformative investments that will enhance and elevate California’s supply chain ecosystem for a more efficient and resilient tomorrow.”

“BNSF’s planned Barstow International Gateway will im prove cargo velocity through our port and reduce truck traf fic on our freeways,” said Port of Los Angeles Executive Di rector Gene Seroka. “This project will help ensure that goods moving through the San Pedro Bay will get to consumers, businesses and manufacturers with speed and reliability.”

Enhance the competitiveness

“The Port of Long Beach welcomes BNSF’s planned Barstow International Gateway in the high desert. This project will help improve supply chain fluidity, reduce environmental im pacts and enhance the competitiveness of California and the

nation’s largest port complex,” said Mario Cordero, Port of Long Beach Executive Director.

Dawn Rowe, San Bernardino County Supervisor for the Third District, added, “The County of San Bernardino plays a critical role in supporting the movement of goods to the rest of the country. Barstow International Gateway will be essen tial for modeling new and efficient ways to address supply chain issues that have impacted everyone over the past sev eral years.”

Willie A Hopkins, Jr., Barstow City Manager emphasized, “This facility will bring thousands of jobs to Barstow, while in creasing equity, opportunity and the economic competitive ness of the high desert.” He continued, “BNSF has been an important part of our city since its inception and on this 75th anniversary, we are proud to partner with them to ensure our success in the future.”

“We appreciate the support from leaders at the state, re gional and city level and look forward to building on our 140year history in the High Desert to open the Barstow Interna tional Gateway as soon as possible,” affirmed BNSF’s Farmer.

OMAN RAIL AND ETIHAD RAIL DIRECTORS HOLDS INAUGURAL

The Board of Directors of Oman Rail-Etihad Rail JV Company, a joint venture between Oman Rail, the developer and operator of the Oman national Rail Network, and Etihad Rail, the de veloper and operator of the UAE National Rail Network, held its inaugural meeting in Dubai, two days af ter signing an agreement to form the company. The signing ceremony was held on the sidelines of the UAE President, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s vis it to Oman.

The Board of Directors includes He Suhail bin Moham med Faraj Faris Al Mazrouei, UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure; His Excellency Eng. Saeed bin Hamoud Al Maawali, Minister of Transport, Communications, and In formation Technology in the Sultanate of Oman;; Sheikh Nasser Sulaiman Al Harthy, Acting Vice President of Opera tions Affairs at Oman Investment Authority and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Asyad Group; His Excellency Saeed Al Zaabi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Eti had Rail Mobility; Eng. Abdulrahman Salim Al Hatmi, Group CEO of Asyad Group and Eng. Shadi Malak, CEO of Etihad Rail.

The board members commended the wise leadership of the two countries for their unwavering support and stra tegic vision towards enhancing co-operation and joint ac tion between the two countries across various fields. They also praised the leadership’s guidance and direction in the establishment of the joint venture to build and operate a railway network connecting Sohar Port with the UAE Na tional Rail Network, as it is an extension of the longstand ing collaboration of the Sultanate of Oman and the UAE, who both seek to create new prospects in the infrastruc ture, transport, and logistics industries by connecting the two countries via rail in a manner that promotes trade and social cohesion.

The Board of Directors also appointed Eng. Ahmed Al Hashemi as CEO of the company, and Eng. Mohammed bin Zahran Al Mahruqi as Deputy CEO.

HE Suhail bin Mohammed Faraj Faris Al Mazrouei, UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, said that establishing the joint venture was in line with both leaderships’ direc tives for achieving sustainable development by elevating

the transport and infrastructure sectors to higher levels, whilst supporting economic and commercial growth.

“The joint railway network will advance the land trans port system between the two countries in line with the best-in-class criteria and standards, providing safe, reliable, and sustainable transportation, which in turn, will further facilitate connectivity between industrial and commercial centers, and cement the longstanding social cohesion be tween the two countries.”

HE Eng. Saeed bin Hamoud bin Saeed Al Maawali, Min ister of Transport, Communications and Information Tech nology in the Sultanate of Oman, added: “The strategic ini tiative to develop a railway network between the Sultanate of Oman and the UAE would cement the strong brotherly ties between the two countries and would also reflect their joint efforts to achieve social and economic integration.”

“Through this partnership and the logistics progress it will bring about, various economic and trade activities will reap several benefits, creating new opportunities and pro viding high-quality transport solutions that will contribute to establishing a connection between Sohar and the Omani free zone,” he explained.

The $3 billion railway network will contribute to the growth of the two countries’ national economies and improve the efficiency of supply chains whilst facilitating cross-border trade by linking commercial ports to the rail way network.

JOINT VENTURE BOARD OF INAUGURAL MEETING

PRODUCTION GANG BOOSTS MINNESOTA, JUST IN TIME FOR

It’s a familiar sight on the railroad: A long stretch of track heading into the horizon, surrounded by fields of corn nearly ready for harvest. A nearby grain elevator is silhouetted by bright blue sky, the sun poking through delicate clouds. A gang stands off to the side of the tracks...

Wait, a gang?

Every day, teams of engineering employees traverse BNSF’s track, moving from town to town, track mile by track mile, making sure our railroad infrastructure is safe and efficient. These teams are known as regional production gangs.

Throughout the year, 28 gangs on average work on our 32,000+ route-mile network, conducting maintenance on existing track and adding track to ex pand service. It’s one part of our annual capital investment plan, which all told is expected to total $3.55 billion and focuses on projects that support BNSF’s growth and efficiency objectives while maintaining a strong and reliable rail road.

One major capital investment project was recently completed in Ulen, Minnesota, a small town about 40 miles east of Fargo, North Dakota. It’s also home to one of the Top 5 originating shuttle facilities on the BNSF network.

That’s notable, given BNSF hauls more agricultural products than any other railroad in the country. In 2021, BNSF moved 63 million tonnes of grain from America’s heartland to receivers here and around the globe.

The Ulen facility’s success and potential growth spurred BNSF to add the project to our capital investment list for 2022. The project aims to increase safety, efficiency and capacity for the BNSF customer.

Assistant Roadmaster Tom Zerr led the gang that performed the work.

“The track leading to Ulen’s grain facility was jointed, or bolted rail, rather than smooth, continuous rail that is welded as a single piece,” he explained. “While jointed rail is safe, it does require heat and speed restrictions, which reduces efficiency.”

Zerr’s team completed the work in 14 days, four fewer than planned, in stalling 63,000 ft (19 km) of new 115-pound welded rail.

NETWORK EFFICIENCY IN FOR HARVEST SEASON BY BNSF

“This new, heavier rail will remove those heat restrictions and allow for increased speed, from 10 mph to up to 25 mph,” he added. The changeout also improves the flow of westbound trains, greatly increasing efficiency and reducing the number of crew and staffing issues experienced at this location.

“This is really a big deal,” Zerr said. “This will have a big impact on sustain ability and customer satisfaction. It makes us so much more competitive.”

Zerr, who has had several roles at BNSF since coming aboard in 2014, learned railroading from the ground up as a trainman and tower operator working in North Dakota, Minnesota and Washington. That experience gives him a unique perspective when working on track projects.

“We are here and making an impact, not only to us, but to our company and our customers,” he said. “We are also making an impact to the economy. We have a bigger purpose day-to-day.”

Zerr, who just completed his bachelor’s degree in leadership organisation, knows it’s projects like these that motivate his team.

“When we finish a project, we leave the railroad in better shape than when we came, whether that means it’s safer, faster, more efficient or all the above,” he said. “We take pride knowing that we’ve increased customer satisfaction, improved service and supported Minnesota producers. And all of this was completed ahead of the agriculture season. It’s game on!”

Trinity announces $1.8bn multi-year railcar order

Trinity

Industries' subsidiary, Trinity Rail Group, LLC, has entered into a new long-term railcar supply agreement with GATX Corporation to deliver a mix of 15,000 newly built tank and freight railcars over a six-year period. GATX has the option to order an additional 500 railcars in each order year. Under the terms of the agree ment, Trinity will deliver 6000 tank cars at a rate of 1200 cars each year from 2024 until 2028.

Mix of freight and tank cars

The remaining 9000 cars, which can be a mix of freight and tank cars, will be ordered at a rate of 1500 cars per order

year from 2023 to 2028 and delivered under a schedule to be determined.

“This multi-year railcar order with GATX represents the extension of a strong partnership,” said Jean Savage, Trinity’s Chief Executive Officer and President.

“We are proud of the relationship we have built with GATX and pleased that they have once again selected Trin ityRail as the premier North American railcar manufacturer.”

Savage continued: “At Trinity, we continue to believe that our ability to provide railcars for shippers, railroads, and oth er leasing companies gives us the broadest view into trends and dynamics in the industry and, ultimately, drives strong returns for our shareholders.”

WINS TENDER FROM SNCF RÉSEAU FRANCE

Frauscher

has won a tender from SNCF Réseau for the modernisation of the signalling systems de ployed on the French National Network managed by SNCF.

According to a statement: "Frauscher [is] committed to developing solutions which will become tomorrow's benchmark in the railway industry.

"We do this by leveraging the power of our innova tion and pioneering spirit to develop solutions that make it easier for our customers to obtain the operational in formation they need."

Initially, Frauscher entered the French market in 2016 with the goal of providing concrete answers to the development of French rail transportation systems.

Winning this tender has reinforced the company's "belief that our strategy, approach and vision are prop erly aligned with our goals".

The contract with SNCF Réseau consists of develop ing, supplying and maintaining a new generation of axle counter systems.

It will start in autumn 2022 for a period of 10 years, renewable for a further five years, as well as a mainte nance period of up to 30 years.

Michael Thiel, CEO of Frauscher Sensor Technology, said: "We are pleased with the outcome of this very com petitive tender and are confident that the highly inno vative and flexible nature of our solutions will meet the specific requirements of this consultation and beyond."

The development phase will consist of the integra tion of new and innovative features as well as the imple mentation of the unified EULYNX protocol, in partnership with SNCF Réseau.

Magnitude of tender

According to Mayank Tripathi, CSO of Frauscher Sensor Technology: "Never before has a network launched a tender of this magnitude to select an axle counting sys tem supplier. It is a complex project with a very specific interface and product requirements.

"However, we have all the tools at our disposal to en sure a smooth implementation of our solutions into the existing infrastructure, including extensive experience with EULYNX."

"We were pleased to meet with representatives from SNCF Réseau at our stand at InnoTrans to celebrate the signing of the contract, marking the official start of the project which is clearly a significant milestone for our or ganisation in many ways.

"We also took the time to discuss the operational de tails of the project with SNCF Réseau to ensure a seam less implementation and the highest possible customer satisfaction.

"We are looking forward to joining forces with SNCF Réseau to upgrade their signalling with our solutions, and to support them at every stage of this process," add ed Tripathi.

GOING DUTCH FOR MILITARY LOGISTICAL MOBILITY

Greenbrier Wagony Swidnica has delivered the first trainset of new military equipment transporters to representatives of the Dutch Ministry of Defense.

The wagons are specifically designed to trans port profile heavy military vehicles and are intended to en hance the logistical mobility of the Netherlands’ armed forc es.

The wagons will play a key role in supporting the Neth erlands armed forces deliver on its mission to move Dutch troops training in Europe and move up to a brigade level force to a deployment area when needed.

The wagons will also be available to NATO partners through the Movement Co-ordination Centre Europe.

Joerg Greshake, Greenbrier Europe, a former paratroop Officer in the German Federal Armed Forces, said: “Greenbri

er is incredibly proud to play a role in supporting the Nether lands Armed forces and their NATO partners, particularly in these troubled times in Europe.

"The ability to move forces quickly to conflict areas is an essential part of modern military operations. The part nership with the Dutch military has been exemplary and we have jointly developed a very flexible wagon design that will serve the military well.”

Brigadier General Jobse, Commander of the Division Fa cilities, Logistics and Security of the Joint Support Command, was present at the hand-over, with Colonel Heiligers, Com mander of the Defence traffic and transport organisation.

“Greenbrier has been a responsive and responsible sup plier – and has kept its deadlines in these challenging times,” they stated.

Wascosa appoints Iris Hilb as new CEO from 2023

From January 1 2023, Wascosa is reshuffling its Execu tive Board to continue to concentrate on uncompro mising customer focus and innovation, and on spear heading digital transformation.

The Executive Board of Wascosa now consists of Peter Balzer (CEO until December 31 2022), Iris Hilb (Nominee CEO until December 31 2022 and CEO from January 1 2023), Irm hild Saabel (CSO and CBDO), Markus Vaerst (Head of CDQO), Dominic Felice (COO) and Stephan Kellmann (CFO).

Balzer will become the new Chairman of the Board of Di rectors of Wascosa Holding upon his retirement as CEO on January 1 2023.

In detail

With effect from January 1 2023, Iris Hilb is appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Wascosa Group. She will take over from Balzer, the current CEO, who will continue to assist with the smooth implementation of Wascosa’s devel opment strategy as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Wascosa Holding.

Iris was previously Senior Vice President Customer Ser vice at DB Cargo AG and brings with her considerable experi ence in sales, strategy, marketing, customer service, IT sales and wagon management, as well as in services purchasing.

For Hilb, joining a company with a strong implementa tion and innovation culture will be a great step forward in her successful career to date. Her focus will be on taking forward the customer-focussed strategy and growth and on success fully implementing the digital transformation, as well as lead Wascosa’s development following the recent acquisition of Wascosa by Vauban Infrastructure Partners and Swiss Life Asset Management AG.

Saabel will continue to lead the Sales and Business Devel opment management divisions, both of which she has been successfully steering since May 2022 and will be responsible for ensuring that our new innovative solutions are success fully launched to the market on time.

Wascosa is facing major new challenges and opportuni ties brought about by market changes and the international political situation. To be best placed to meet these challeng es and opportunities, Wascosa will realign the existing busi ness management divisions from November 1 2022 in order to accelerate the digitalisation of its businesses. Felice will become the new Chief Operation Officer (COO) and will take over from Vaerst, who takes charge of the newly created Au tomation-Digitalisation-Total Quality Management (CDQO) business management division.

As CFO, Kellmann will continue to be responsible for fi nance and organisation.

Railway Reading

What's so standard about

Astandard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance, or width, be tween the inner sides of the rails) of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in). The standard gauge is also called Stephen son gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uni form gauge, normal gauge and Euro pean gauge in Europe and SGR in East Africa.

It is the most widely used track gauge around the world, with approx imately 55% of the lines in the world using it. All high-speed rail lines use standard gauge except those in Russia, Finland, and Uzbekistan.

The distance between the inside edges of the rails is defined to be 1435 mm except in the United States and

on some heritage British lines, where it is defined in Imperial units as exactly "four feet eight and one half inches" which is equivalent to 1435.1 mm.

History of the gauge

As railways developed and expanded, one of the key issues was the track gauge to be used. Different railways used different gauges, and where rails of different gauge met – a "gauge break" – loads had to be unloaded from one set of rail cars and re-load ed onto another, a time-consuming and expensive process. The result was the adoption throughout a large part of the world of a 'standard' gauge of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in), allowing in terconnectivity and interoperability.

A popular legend that has been around since at least 1937 traces the origin of the 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) gauge even further back than the coal fields of northern England, pointing to the evidence of rutted roads marked by chariot wheels dating from the Ro man Empire.

Some have categorised this legend as "false", but commented that "it is perhaps more fairly labelled as 'True, but for trivial and unremarkable rea sons'".

The historical tendency to place the wheels of horse-drawn vehicles approximately 5 ft (1,524 mm) apart probably derives from the width need ed to fit a carthorse in between the shafts.

Research however has been un

Railway Reading about standard gauge?

dertaken which supports the hypoth esis that "the origin of the standard gauge of the railway might result from an interval of wheel ruts of prehistoric ancient carriages".

In addition, while road-travelling vehicles are typically measured from the outermost portions of the wheel rims (and there is some evidence that the first railways were measured in this way as well), it became apparent that for vehicles travelling on rails it was better to have main wheel flang es that fit inside the rails, and thus the minimum distance between the wheels (and, by extension, the inside faces of the rail heads) was the im portant one.

There was never a standard gauge for horse railways but there were rough groupings: in the north of En gland none was less than 4 ft (1,219 mm).

Wylam colliery's system, built be fore 1763, was 5 ft (1,524 mm), as was John Blenkinsop's Middleton Railway; the old 4 ft (1,219 mm) plateway was relaid to 5 ft (1,524 mm) so that Blen kinsop's engine could be used.[11] Others were 4 ft 4 in (1,321 mm) (in Beamish) or 4 ft 7+1⁄2 in (1,410 mm) (in Bigges Main (in Wallsend), Kenton, and Coxlodge).

The English railway pioneer George Stephenson spent much of his early engineering career working for the coal mines of County Durham. He fa voured 4 ft 8 in (1,422 mm) for wagon ways in Northumberland and Durham, and used it on his Killingworth line. The Hetton and Springwell wagonways also used this gauge.

Stephenson's Stockton and Dar lington railway (S&DR) was built pri-

marily to transport coal from mines near Shildon to the port at Stocktonon-Tees. Opening in 1825, the initial gauge of 4 ft 8 in (1,422 mm) was set to accommodate the existing gauge of hundreds of horse-drawn chaldron wagons that were already in use on the wagonways in the mines. The railway used this gauge for 15 years before a change was made, debuting around 1850, to the 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) gauge.

The historic Mount Washington Cog Railway, the world's first moun tain-climbing rack railway, is still in operation in the 21st century, and has used the earlier 4 ft 8 in (1,422 mm) gauge since its inauguration in 1868.

Extra half inch George Stephenson used the 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) gauge (including a belated extra 1⁄2 in (13 mm) of free movement to reduce binding on

curves for the Liverpool and Manches ter Railway, authorised in 1826 and opened in 1830. The success of this project led to Stephenson to engineer several other larger railway projects. Thus the 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in gauge became widespread and dominant in Britain. Stephenson was reported to have said that if he had had a second chance to choose a standard gauge, he would have chosen one wider than 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in. "I would take a few inches more, but a very few".

During the "gauge war" with the Great Western Railway, standard gauge was called "narrow gauge", in contrast to the Great Western's 7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm) broad gauge.

The modern method of measuring rail gauge was agreed in the first Berne rail convention of 1886, according to the "Revue générale des chemins de fer, July 1928".

KEEP THE DATE: Railway industry calendar of events

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

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