Issue 28

East Palestine derailment and aftermath LATEST STATEMENT FROM NORFOLK

NS issued the following statement in response to the National Transportation

Since the incident, Norfolk Southern has focused on supporting the Village of East Palestine and the NTSB throughout their investigation. NTSB investigators have worked tirelessly, and we appreciate everything they are doing. We share the NTSB Chair's frustration about the significant misinformation about the incident.

Norfolk Southern will continue to support the NTSB's investigation. Their preliminary report indicates:

The rail crew operated the train within the company's rules. The rail crew operated the train below the track speed limit. The wayside heat detectors were operating as designed.

Once the rail crew was alerted by the wayside detector, they immediately began to stop the train. The company's wayside detectors on its network trigger an alarm at a temperature threshold that is among the lowest in the rail industry.

At Norfolk Southern, our highest priority is the safety of our people and the communities and customers we serve. Under the supervision of the Federal Railroad Administration, the company has inspected all wayside detectors in the area of the incident and found they were operating as designed.

Out of an abundance of caution, Norfolk Southern is now inspecting all of the nearly 1,000 wayside heat detectors on its system – on top of the regular inspection of the detectors every 30 days.

We and the rail industry need to learn as much as we can from this event. Norfolk Southern will develop practices and invest in technologies that could help prevent an incident like this in the future. We will also work with the owners of the rail cars on the integrity and safety of the equipment we use.

The speculation and misinformation about this incident have been extremely upsetting to the citizens of East Palestine.

Norfolk Southern remains committed to the people of the community and will continue its work to help them thrive. Already, we have made significant progress in cleaning the site, engaging the community, and providing financial support for families and small businesses, all to help East Palestine.

NORFOLK SOUTHERN

Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) preliminary report

A Message from Alan Shaw,

Norfolk Southern CEO

We will not walk away, East Palestine.

When I visited East Palestine last week, you told me how the train derailment has upended your lives and how concerned you are about the safety of your air, water, and land. Many of you have also reached out to Norfolk Southern to share your fears, your anger, and your frustration.

I hear you. We hear you.

I know you also have questions about whether Norfolk Southern will be here to help make things right.

My simple answer is that we are here and will stay here for as long as it takes to ensure your safety and to help East Palestine recover and thrive.

Our work is underway. Crews are cleaning the site thoroughly, responsibly, and safely. Our Family Assistance Center is helping community members meet immediate needs. Together with local health officials, we have implemented a comprehensive testing program to ensure the safety of East Palestine’s water, air and soil. And we have established a $1 million community support fund as a down payment on our commitment to help rebuild.

But our work is far from over. As we continue site clean-up, the NTSB moves forward with its investigation, and necessary environmental testing is carried out, I promise to keep you updated every step of the way.

I know there are still a lot of questions without answers. I know you’re tired. I know you’re worried. We will not let you down.

NS starts donations to east palestine population

NORFOLK Southern announced an initial $300,000 donation, without condition, to the East Palestine City School District to support the district's academics, athletics, extra-curricular activities, and its longterm contingency planning regarding the impacts of the derailment. The donation comes after Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan H. Shaw visited East Palestine. Each of the district's three schools — East Palestine Elementary, East Palestine Middle, and East Palestine High schools — will receive $100,000.

Shaw met with Dwayne Pavkovich, athletic director and assistant principal; Sarai Dutton, principal of East Palestine Elementary School; and Tony DelBoccio, principal of East Palestine High School, to hear concerns they had following the derailment and to inform them of the donation. One issue centered on the cancellation of athletic events as a result of the incident.

East Palestine schools have been cleared by local, state, and federal officials to safely host athletic and extra-curricular activities; however, schools outside the district have voluntarily forfeited games set to be held within the district. These cancellations have caused a loss of revenue for East Palestine sports programs and neighboring businesses.

"As soon as I heard that the East Palestine Bulldogs were not able to play in revenue-generating games, we took immediate action to help this community. We continue to be committed to helping East Palestine residents get back on their feet. We are in this community for the long haul, and our goal is to see the community thrive again," said Shaw.

East Palestine derailment and aftermath US Transportation

a three-pronged push for

Among the immediate calls for action: Freight rail industry should accelerate phase-in of safer tank cars and provide workers paid sick leave and Congress can raise existing caps on the fines for rail safety regulations

USDOT will advance train crew staffing rule, initiate a focused safety inspection programme on routes over which high-hazard flammable trains (HHFTs) travel

Secretary Buttigieg: "We at USDOT are doing everything in our power to improve rail safety, and we insist that the rail industry do the same – while inviting Congress to work with us to raise the bar"

US local, state, and federal officials continue to investigate the cause of the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and monitor public health conditions. US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called for a three-pronged push to hold the freight rail industry accountable and improve safety. That includes laying out immediate steps for Class I railroads to take to improve rail safety in communities across America and to improve working conditions for rail employees. It comes on the heels of Secretary Buttigieg’s letter to Norfolk Southern’s CEO, in which the

Secretary called for an end to the rail industry’s “vigorous resistance” to increased safety measures, which has included litigation and lobbying Congress.

"Profit and expediency must never outweigh the safety of the American people," said USTransportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. "We at USDOT are doing everything in our power to improve rail safety, and we insist that the rail industry do the same – while inviting Congress to work with us to raise the bar."

The reforms demand that railroads take several actions, including requiring the owners of tank cars to expedite the phase-in of safer (DOT 117) tank cars and to offer paid sick leave for rail workers; call on Congress to increase maximum fines that USDOT can issue to rail companies for violating safety regulations up from the current maximum fine of $225,455; and state that USDOT will advance the train crew size rule and initiate a focused safety inspection program on routes over which trains with large volumes of hazardous material travel.

The full list is below:

We are calling on Norfolk Southern and the entire freight railroad industry to act immediately to:

Protect workers who spot safety issues from reprisal, by joining FRA’s Confidential Close Call Reporting Program. This program allows railroads and their employees to report unsafe events and conditions without fear of negative consequences from the FRA or reprisal from their employers. To date Amtrak, many commuter rail and short line companies are part of this programme, but not a single Class I railroad participates. This must change immediately.

Deploy new inspection technologies without seeking permission to abandon human inspections. The removal of human inspections has been a top priority for the rail lobbyists. Recent waiver requests around technology like Automated Track Inspection (ATI) have been framed by industry to set up a false choice between technology and human oversight. We need both to keep our nation’s railroads safe.

Transportation Secretary PETE Buttigieg

for rail freight safety

Require the owners of tank cars they operate to expedite the phase-in of safer (DOT 117) tank cars in advance of the Congressionally mandated 2029 deadline.

Provide proactive advance notification to state emergency response teams when they are transporting hazardous gas tank cars through their states instead of expecting first responders to look up this information after an incident occurs. USDOT is also pursuing further requirements in this area, but railroads should not wait.

Provide paid sick leave. A healthy and well-supported workforce is a safer workforce. This doesn’t have to wait for national negotiations—companies can come to terms individually with their labour unions. Some carriers are in the process of doing this. This Administration believes that all workers deserved paid sick leave.

USDOT will continue, and further enhance, its work on freight rail safety, including:

East Palestine derailment and aftermath US Transportation

Advancing the Train Crew Staffing Rule, which will require a minimum of two crewmembers for most railroad operations.

This rule is intended to keep workers and communities safe. Research indicates that an increase in physical tasks and cognitive demands for a one-person crew could potentially lead to task overload or a loss of situational awareness that could cause an accident. Despite two-person train crews being industry standard, the rail industry has resisted being regulated on this front and pushed for crews of less than two people.

Initiating a focused safety inspection programme on routes over which high-hazard flammable trains (HHFTs) and other trains carrying large volumes of hazardous material travel.

Initiating a focused inspection programme of legacy tank cars and the shippers and railroads who have chosen not to upgrade to the safer tank cars (DOT 117).

Deploying the resources from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law under programs including the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI), the new Railroad Crossing Elimination Program and the Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing (RRIF) program among others to fund projects that modernize and improve rail tracks, eliminate at-grade rail crossings and improve rail safety.

Pursuing further rulemaking, to the extent possible under current statute, on high-hazard flammable trains (HHFT) and electronically controlled pneumatic brakes (ECP).

Congress can strengthen rail safety by:

Increasing the maximum fines that USDOT can issue to rail companies for violating safety regulations. The current maximum fine, even for an egregious violation involving hazard materials and resulting in fatalities, is $225,455. This is a rounding error for a company that reported an astonishing record annual operating income in 2022 of $4.8 billion, and has posted operating margins approaching 40%.

Following through on new bipartisan support to expand and strengthen rules governing high-hazardous shipments, including high-hazard flammable trains

USDOT Officials take part in a scheduled inspection

(HHFT), pushing past industry opposition.

Following through on new bipartisan support to modernize braking regulations and increase the use of electronically controlled pneumatic brakes (ECP).

Speeding up the phase-in of safer (DOT 117) tank cars to carry hazardous materials.

Congress established a phase-in schedule under the 2015 FAST Act which gives owners of tank cars until 2029

Transportation Secretary PETE Buttigieg

to fully adopt stronger (DOT 117) tank cars. The original 2015 HHFT Rule required the phase-in by 2025. Congress can act now to speed, rather than slow, this important safety measure.

Increasing funding to expand hazardous materials training for first responders.

Investigators from USDOT’s Federal Railroad Administration and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials

of the 11 derailed tank cars involved in the Norfolk Southern incident. www.freight-tracks.com

Safety Administration were on the ground within hours of the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, on February 3 2023. The agencies are supporting the investigation being led by the National Transportation Safety Board, an independent agency. USDOT will use the results of the NTSB investigation in East Palestine to hold Norfolk Southern accountable, while pushing for rail safety initiatives in the more immediate future.

East Palestine derailment and aftermath

Commentators push unfounded Ohio train derailment

unfounded claims about derailment

By Saranac Hale Spencer and Jessica McDonald

THE derailment of a freight train carrying toxic chemicals in eastern Ohio has sparked a slew of unfounded claims by conservative commentators. There’s no indication that this incident will rise to the level of a “domestic Chernobyl”; it has been covered steadily by the media; federal and state agencies are monitoring air and water quality and its impact on people and animals.

Full Story

The February 3 freight train derailment near the village of East Palestine, Ohio — population 5000 — has continued to draw media and public attention.

The 150-car train was transporting 20 cars that contained hazardous substances when 38 cars derailed about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, apparently due to a mechanical issue with one of the train’s axles.

Days after the crash, officials burned off chemicals carried by the train in an effort to avoid a potential explosion. That fire created a billow of dark smoke over the village, and pictures of it spread on social media.

Those images, paired with concern about the environmental and health impacts from the incident, have fueled a rash of alarming claims.

While concerns about public health and safety are valid, some commentators and social media accounts have ratcheted up unfounded rhetoric about the situation.

For example, conservative commentator Charlie Kirk compared the incident to the 1986 explosion of a Soviet nuclear reactor, telling his 2.6 million Facebook followers, “It could very well be a domestic Chernobyl.”

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ outlet, InfoWars, has also amplified fears about the incident and repeated the common falsehood that there has been a lack of news coverage. “Mainstream media is hardly covering this,” said commentator Harrison Smith.

And Fox News host Tucker Carlson said on the February 15 episode of his show: “Is anyone in charge actually monitoring with any accuracy the level of deadly chemicals in the air, ground, and water in and around East Palestine? Well, no, apparently nobody is.”

There’s no basis for any of those claims.

To start with, there was no nuclear material on the train and the aftermath of the

East Palestine derailment and aftermath

incident is far from the scale of Chernobyl, which required the permanent relocation of about 200,000 people and left 30 people dead in the first three months following the explosion in the spring of 1986. No deaths have been reported from the train derailment.

Second, news coverage of the train crash and its aftermath has been steady in both local and national outlets. The Associated Press, NPR and CNN, for example, each published an article on the crash the day after it happened. Coverage continued throughout the following week and picked up even more in the second week after the crash, according to a search on Lexis Nexis, as claims on social media spiraled.

Third, contrary to Carlson’s suggestion that there’s been little to no testing done, both state and federal environmental officials have been on site, testing both air and water quality.

Toxic Chemicals

Here’s what we know so far about the situation concerning some of the most viral claims.

Of the 38 train cars that derailed, 11 were carrying hazardous substances, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

The most prominent chemical on board was vinyl chloride, a gas used to manufacture polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, which is used to make plastic pipes, credit cards and shrink-wrap, among other products.

According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, breathing in high amounts of vinyl chloride can make people dizzy or sleepy, and extended exposure to the chemical is associated with certain cancers, particularly a rare form of liver cancer. Most people are not exposed to much vinyl chloride unless they work with the chemical.

Vinyl chloride is highly flammable, which led the governors of Ohio and Pennsylvania to decide to intentionally release it from the five train cars ferrying the material and burn it in a controlled fashion, rather than risk an explosion. Burning the gas, however, produces other potentially harmful gases, including hydrogen chloride, carbon monoxide and traces of phosgene.

Phosgene has garnered a lot of attention because the chemical was used as a weapon during World War I. But that involved high concentrations of the gas, which can damage the lungs. At lower concentrations, phosgene smells like freshly cut hay and can irritate the eyes and throat and cause wheezing and coughing.

The Environmental Protection Agency has said the “threat” of phosgene and hydrogen chloride ceased after the fire was put out on February 8, and the agency stopped monitoring for the two gases on February 13.

Other chemicals on the train that were released into the environment include butyl acrylate, ethylhexyl acrylate and ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, according to the EPA. All of these substances are used in making paints, among other products, and can cause irritation and drowsiness or other symptoms if inhaled, touched or ingested.

Another train car was transporting isobutylene, a flammable chemical sometimes used to make aviation fuel, but records indicate the car was not breached.

It remains unclear what the health and environmental impacts of the spilled and burned chemicals will be. However, the EPA has been testing the air and water since February 4, and currently, there are no indications that the air or the village’s municipal drinking water is unsafe.

As of February 19, the EPA continued its air monitoring and has tested air samples from 533 homes, finding no cases in which chemicals have exceeded residential air quality standards. The agency has noted that butyl acrylate, which has a strong fruity odour, has a low odour threshold, as do other chemicals produced in the controlled burn. “This means people may smell these contaminants at levels much lower than what is considered hazardous,” the EPA explained on its update page for the derailment.

On February 15, the Ohio EPA declared the municipal water “safe to drink,” after tests revealed no detections of “contaminants associated with the derailment” in either treated water or untreated water from the five wells that feed into the village’s water system.

State authorities, however, have said that people who get their water from private wells should use bottled water until their wells can be tested. As of February 19, 52 wells have been tested, and none showed “water quality concerns,” according to federal officials. Outside scientists say the monitoring results are good, but that testing needs to continue and expand to cover more substances. There are also important questions about how the chemicals will react in the environment and what the health effects might be.

Juliane Beier, a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh who studies vinyl chloride, has explained that even levels of exposure that are considered safe may pose risks over time.

“We study concentrations that are currently considered safe, and in our studies, what we have observed is that these low doses can enhance underlying diseases — talking about liver diseases here,” she told Scientific American of her experiments with vinyl chloride in animals.

Beier said the biggest concern with vinyl chloride is that it could escape into the air from untested well water.

“The outdoor air is a little less problematic because vinyl chloride gets dispersed very quickly and broken down by the sunlight, within a few days, it’s a similar situation in the soil or open body of water. However, one of the things I always emphasize if it goes into the ground water and transported to homes and private wells, it is highly volatile, so it can suffuse into air within those closed spaces,” she told a local news station in Pittsburgh. “It comes out of the water, into the air and that’s really the major route of toxicity for the liver. It comes through the air.”

To address the medical concerns of area residents, some of whom have reported developing rashes, headaches and other symptoms, the Ohio Department of Health opened a “health assessment clinic” on February 21.

By February 5 — two days after the crash — the potential for an explosion had de-

East Palestine derailment and aftermath

veloped because pressure-relief valves stopped working on some train cars that were carrying vinyl chloride.

“The concern was that this would be catastrophic,” Ohio Govenor Mike DeWine said at a February 14 press conference, explaining that the resulting shrapnel was expected to travel up to a mile.

Norfolk Southern, the rail company that was operating the train, proposed conducting a “controlled release” of the vinyl chloride into prepared pits before being burned off.

The Ohio National Guard together with the Department of Defense modeled the likely effect of the release plan, and, based on that, DeWine and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro ordered an evacuation of the area so that rail workers could begin the process.

“We were faced with two bad options,” DeWine said at the press conference. “One option was to do nothing and wait for the car to explode,” he said, and the other was to release the chemical and burn it.

Officials authorised the burn option and rail workers began the “controlled release” of five train cars carrying vinyl chloride on February 6.

Dead Animals

About 3500 fish and aquatic species died in four creeks and small waterways near East Palestine in the days after the crash, Mary Mertz, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said at the February 14 press conference.

Wildlife officers have been working with contractors who are taking samples from the waterways, she said, explaining that they haven’t seen an increase in the number of fish killed since the first couple of days after the derailment.

Officials believe most of the deaths — which occurred primarily in small suckers, minnows, darters and sculpins — were caused by the immediate release of contaminants into the water before mitigation efforts had begun after the crash, according to a release from the Ohio Emergency Management Agency.

“We don’t have any evidence of non-aquatic species suffering from the derailment,” Mertz said at the press conference.

But some residents of the surrounding area have suggested that pets or livestock have been affected by the chemicals released in the crash.

“To this date, there is nothing we’ve seen in the livestock community that causes any concerns to the state,” Dr Dennis Summers, chief of the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Division of Animal Health, said at the press conference.

He explained that anyone who is concerned that pets or livestock have died as a result of the chemicals released in the crash should contact their veterinarian, who can send samples to the state lab for testing.

So far, the lab has received tissue samples from one animal — a 6-week-old beef calf that died on February 11 about two miles from East Palestine.

Bryan Levin, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Agriculture, confirmed to FactCheck.org in an email that this has been the only animal tissue submitted so far and that the results are still pending.

Train Crashes

The crash near East Palestine has highlighted regulatory and safety issues for the rail industry, with some industry watchers and labor representatives pointing to increasing train lengths and changes to braking regulations as factors contributing to potential safety problems.

Some social media posts, though, have gone much further, claiming that there’s been a “suspicious” increase in train crashes recently.

But for the last three years — 2022, 2021 and 2020 — there have been about 9000 train accidents annually, which includes any collision, derailment or fire, according to data from the Federal Railroad Administration.

That number is down from an average of nearly 12,000 accidents per year from 2013 to 2019.

The number of train derailments, however, has been fairly steady over the last decade. There were 1049 in 2022, compared with 1311 in 2013.

And, getting even more specific, the number of derailed or damaged train cars carrying hazardous materials — like the 11 hazmat cars that derailed near East Palestine — has been below 1000 every year for the last decade. There were 520 such cars that derailed in 2022.

We don’t know how many crashes or derailments there have been so far in 2023; an FRA spokesman told us that data won’t be available until March. But the widely circulating suggestion that there’s been a stark increase recently isn’t supported by evidence, and the most recent data show that there’s been a decrease in accidents overall in recent years.

Wabtec delivers 500th Evolution

WABTEC celebrated the delivery of the 500th Evolution series Locomotive to Indian Railways. The celebration at Wabtec’s plant in Marhowra, Bihar marked another milestone in the 2015 $2.5 billion agreement as part of the Government of India’s Public Private Partnership ‘Make in India’ programme to develop and supply 1000 fuel-efficient, emission-compliant diesel-electric Evolution Series locomotives.

“This achievement is a major step in Wabtec’s growth as the leading rail industry supplier in this country and demonstrates the commitment to the ‘Make in India’ initiative,” said D. Sujatha Narayan, Senior Vice President and India Region Leader. “It also is a tribute to the dedication of our team in India, as well as the support from the community, government, suppliers,

and other Wabtec sites around the world. Their efforts are positioning the company and our customers for success in the region for years to come.”

The 500th locomotive is a 4500-horsepower, dual-cab locomotive.

To date, Wabtec has delivered 438 of those models and 62 of the 6000-horsepower, single-cab locomotives to Indian Railways. These locomotives are digitally enabled and use cutting-edge technology to deliver fuel efficiency and ensure compliance to international emission standard UIC1. The locomotives’ cabs feature ergonomic comforts for the pilots in terms of air conditioning, seats, noise reduction, heated wind screens, urinals, and digital displays.

Indian Railways is using the locomotives exten-

series loco to Indian Railways

sively for heavy-haul and container operations across the country. The fleet is demonstrating high levels of availability and reliability, which is enabling significant growth in freight revenue.

“The successful and timely execution of Marhowra project is a major milestone in the success of the public private partnership,” said Sandeep Selot, Managing Director of Wabtec Locomotives Private Limited. “This partnership also helped to operationalise modern service sheds in Roza and Gandhidham. It also has been instrumental in creating jobs and establishing a local supplier footprint, as well as establishing a community outreach programME.”

The state-of-art manufacturing plant in Marhowra started operations in 2018. It leverages global lean

manufacturing processes and has the capacity to deliver 120 locomotives per year. The plant also set a new benchmark in having a diverse and talented workforce from Bihar and Jharkhand.

Community development in the region

Additionally, Wabtec’s outreach programmes in and around the Marhowra factory have fueled vocational training and educational equity enabling community development in the region. The programmes have prepared and supported over 600 female entrepreneurs. It also trained engineers from the local polytechnic with smart welding skills needed to secure employment.

INDIA REPORT

ER INTRODUCES GPS-BASED ELECTRONIC LOCK FOR ENHANCED FREIGHT SECURITY

TO enhance security and ensure safe transport of goods and parcels, India's Eastern Railway has started use of electronic lock blended with GPS system to monitor the status of door locks. In this direction, Eastern Railway’s Howrah Division has started a pilot project of locking the parcel vans and freight wagons using electronic locks instead of the conventional system of padlocks and wire seals. The electronic locks are tamper proof and are also fitted with GPS chips to monitor their location as well as close / open status. These are locked / unlocked using OTP (on the manufacturer’s App) which is received only on the authorized mobile numbers.

Shri Arun Arora, General Manager/Eastern Railway described this electronic lock as very effective which enables real time visibility, tracking and control of transport assets for improved operational efficiency, security & customer satisfaction.

The general manager also congratulated Shri Manish Jain, DRM/Howrah and his team for being pioneer in introducing this state-of-the-art system in Eastern Railway.

Fitment has been done on one parcel van (4 doors) and the same is being attached on Howrah-Guwahati Saraighat Express (12345) starting on April 4 2023. The VP (Parcel Van) is locked at the originating station by authorised commercial staff through OTP and again unlocked at destination by authorised commercial staff. Similarly, the process for fitting

such locks on one full rake of BCN wagons has also been started during periodical overhauling at Liluah Workshop, Eastern Railway. once the wagons are ready, these would be run as an integral rake in a closed circuit by Eastern Railway. This system will reduce pilferage / theft of articles and claims by customers and also enhance customer satisfaction. The locks are paired with a particular parcel van serial number or wagon serial number which prevents unauthorised or accidental opening of the locks through the App.

The other features of this locking system are as under :

•Locking / unlocking of one parcel van / wagon would take 2-3 minutes only.

•The electronic unlocking is battery operated system and its expected battery life is 3 years. In case of low battery, provision of extending power supply through USB is available.

•In case a key pad has gone out of order or damaged, it can be operated through blue tooth connection with mobile.

•The authorized personnel / mobile numbers are created by the nominated railway officials.

•Locks are covered through hatch to prevent mischief enroute.

•The manufacturer provides 24x7 customer service as well as maintenance.

The cost of the locking system per vehicle is about Rs. 60,000/-.

Indian Railways launches Rail Post Gati Shakti Express cargo service

INDIAN Railways and India Posts have formally launched Rail Post Gati Shakti Express Cargo Service, Joint Parcel Product of Railways and India Post. It is an initiative of partnership between Indian Railways and India Posts in providing seamless logistics for the services sector in the country. This is in compliance with the Budget Announcement of FY 2022-23. It has been started, on the four sectors - Delhi to Kolkata; Bangalore to Guwahati, Surat to Muzaffarpur and Hyderabad to Hazrat Nizamuddin. However, a total 15 sectors are planned to be covered in the first phase.

The highlights of this service are total logistic service: pick-up and delivery at customer premises, palletisationtransportation through covered and sealed boxes, semimechanised handling, timetabled service, insurance at 0.05% of the declared value of the cargo for loss, damage and deterioration, integrated parcel way bill. joint Marketing Teams between Posts and Railways have been made to take this initiative forward. Doing away with the slab system of pricing is an innovation herein.

Railways and Department of Posts have collectively upgraded their tools, machinery and handling equipment, storage space for optimum use. Specially designed Fold type box, Envelope box, Mesh type Box, Bubble Guard Box made up of aluminium and light weight material have been developed. Similarly, the Parcel Aggregation Centre have been equipped with conveyor system alongwith specially designed rakes for efficient stacking.

BTU Deck where palatised material can be easily rolled are provided for effortless movement.

Salient features for customers

India Post will pick up the consignment at the doorstep of the

customer and transport to the Railway Station (first mile activity) and at the destination railway station, India Post will transport the consignment from the station to the destination address and deliver the consignment at the doorstep of the addressee (last mile activity).

Parcels can be small loads of up to 100 kg. also. First mile and last service charges at Rs 6/- per kg gives competitive and cost effective solution to the customers in comparison to existing road rates.

India Post will be the single point of contact for the customer for the despatch of consignment from pick up till delivery. A mobile app is being developed where customers availing JPP service can book the consignment with online payment facility and also can track the status of consignment with live tracking facility.

Earlier, a pilot weekly service was launched on March 31 2022 from Surat to Varanasi by attaching a VPU to Tapti Ganga Express. After the Budget announcement in 2022-23, proof of concept has been conducted on the textile segment from Surat and today after conducting 99 trials on single Parcel Van mode and 16 trials on full train load mode, Indian Railways have decided to launch this combined initiative across the network.

IINDIAN RAILWAYS ELECTRIFIES 100% OF UTTAR PRADESH BROAD GAUGE

At the national level, Indian Railways has electrified 6366 route kilometers in the same period i.e. FY 202122, the highest ever in the history. Indian Railways electrified 52,247 RKM until March 31 2022 which is about 80% of the total broad-gauge network (65,141 RKMs) of Indian Railways. Out of a total of 52,247 Route Kilometers (RKMs), CORE has carried out electrification work of 41,191 RKM which is roughly 79% of the electrification work of the entire Indian Railways. CORE, along with other organisations has planned to electrify entire broad-gauge network routes of Indian Railways by December 2023.The pace of electrification has gathered momentum in the last few years as since 2014, a record 30,446 RKM has been electrified against electrification of 3874 RKM during 2007-14. Remarkably, out of the total 52,247 RKM electrified so far on pan-India basis 50% has been electrified only during the last five years.

INDIAN Railways achieved a significant milestone n railway electrification with the completion of electrification of Subhagpur-Pachperwa Broad Gauge* (BG) route in North Eastern Railway. Indian Railways has completed the electrification of all BG routes in Uttar Pradesh. This will improve rail connectivity in the region and will improve the speed of trains in the region.

Indian Railways is taking a lead in reducing the nation’s dependence on petroleum-based energy by rapid electrification of railway tracks. In recent years, the Central Organisation for Railway Electrification (CORE) has contributed the majority of total electrified sections of Indian Railway.

CORE was set up in 1979 under the Ministry of Railways with the main objective of electrification of railway tracks on Indian Railways. In order to electrify important railway routes for harnessing maximum benefits from their traffic potential, nine CORE project units are operational at Ahmedabad, Ambala, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati and Secunderabad.

With this achievement, Indian Railways has completed electrification of BG routes in six zonal railways namely: East Coast Railway, North Central Railway, North Eastern Railway, Eastern Railway, South Eastern Railway, West Central Railway.

Also Highly Utilised Network (HUN-5) Jhansi-Muzzaffarpur-Katni is fully electrified now. This will improve connectivity between Jhansi-Lucknow-Barabanki-Burhwal, Gonda-Anandnagar-Gorakhpur-Valmikinagar-Sugauli, Muzzaffarpur-Bachwara and Narkatiyaganj-Raxual-Sitamarhi-Darbhanga-Samastipur, Sitamarhi-Muzzaffarpur-Hazipur including Bhatni-Varanasi—Naini(Allahabad)-Manikpur-Satna-Katni and Chhapra-Varanasi.

With 85% of RKM electrified, Indian Railways is rapidly progressing to accomplish Mission100Percent Electrification and become the largest green railway network in the world.

* Broad gauge of 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in), commonly known as Indian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Argentina, Chile, and on BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is the widest gauge in common use anywhere in the world. It is possible for trains on both Iberian gauge and Indian gauge to travel on each other's tracks with no modifications in the vast majority of cases.

Mr Trivedi's Manifesto

LALIT Chandra Trivedi is an India-based railway expert. He is ex-GM Railways, Chairman Rail Division India ( IMechE), Empaneled Arbitrator - DFCC and IRCON, EM (Independent External Monitor) at MSTC. He is a keen advocate of rail freight in the country and has produced a 12-point manifesto that he considers Indian Railways should put into place to schemes for bring down the cost of logistics and hekp the country towards its zero carbon ambitions.

INDIAN RAILWAYS - schemes for bringing down logistics cost

1.Automatic Freight Rebate Scheme for traffic loaded in Traditional Empty Flow Directions (TEFD)

2. Long Term Traffic Contract (LTTC)

Provides freight stability to its customer in the current year of the agreement .

3, Station to Station Rates (STS)

Concession in freight rates for specific stream of traffic.

4. Round Trip Tariff (RTT) - Freight discount is granted to traffic if customer offers to book traffic in onwards as well as return direction.

5. Concession on long lead traffic

coal & coke, iron ore and iron & steel traffic under which discount in freight is granted, 20% to coal & coke for distance >1400km, 20% to Iron & Steel for distance >1600km; and 15% for distance >700km and 20% for distance >1500Km for Iron ore.

6. Short lead concession

Has been re-introduced from July.2020 under which discount in freight at the rate of 50%, 25% and 10% is granted to the traffic booked upto 0-50km, 51-75km and 76-90km respectively except coal & coke and iron ore traffic. Further, Zonal Railways have been empowered to get

into long term contracts with customers for short lead traffic.

7. Non-levy of terminal charges at unloading point

For the traffic booked to and from notified alternate goods shed .

8. Permissible carrying capacity for loading of pet coke in open wagons has been reduced, thereby, reducing the chargeable tonnage per wagon.

10. Rebate in freight for commodities loaded in privately-owned wagons.

11. . Additional free time of one hour per rake has been permitted for covering open wagons with tarpaulins during loading of loose/bulk commodity (e.g. coal & coke) etc.

12 PCC and loading tolerance of BCFC and BCFCM wagons notified

Since these wagons are loaded using precision loading mechanism using controlled discharge techniques, therefore, loading tolerance for these wagons have been reduced. This results in higher permissible carrying capacity (PCC). It benefits both customer and railways by increasing the throughput. These wagons are largely used to carry cement, fly ash etc

9. Incentive Scheme for loading of bagged consignment in open and flat wagons

DWARF CONTAINERS: GIANT KILLERS?

BY

Lalit

Chandra Trivedi

TO improve the productivity of containerised movement for domestic cargo, Indian Railway has introduced 'dwarf' containers. Because of their shorter height, it is possible to carry double stack of these containers under conventional OHE (Over Head Electric) catenary. It may be noted that for permitting double stack of ISO containers special OHE and electric locomotives with high rise pantographs are required.

Like ISO containers these are 40ft long, but are shorter in height and are provided with a wider body .

The height of a dwarf container from rail level after its two stacks have been mounted on a wagon comes to 4877 mm. Indian Railways has permitted its movement. However at places where due to legacy reasons, OHE clearance is less, speed restrictions are imposed.

When these are double stacked, they can hold volumetrically 67% more than a normal ISO container. Privately-owned rakes of Double Stack Dwarf Containers (called DSDC ) attract a discount of 17% . The DSDC rake is cheaper for transporting low density products like PVC, FMCG products etc . Two 40 ft containers stacked over one another has a permissible carrying capacity of 30.5t each. So one rake of DSDC will be equivalent to 100-150 road trucks (16t carrying capacity) .

While the movement of these double stack Dwarf container rakes has been cleared on many routes for some other work to remove infringements is underway. I think removing these infringements is a low hanging fruit, which must be plucked by Indian Railways in a mission mode .

The first double stack dwarf container was run by a private container train operator from Reliance Rail Terminal, Kanalus (PRTK) on July 8 2018 which reached Kribhco Infrastructure Limited, Pali (KIIP) on July 9 2018.

However subsequently the introduction of this system has not picked up desired pace. While intervening COVID period is one of the reason, it is however felt that there is a need to hold dialogue with all stakeholders to ensure expeditious growth in the movement of these rakes as they will give immediate impetus to containerised domestic transportation, and are bound to prove fruitful both for railways and Industry.

Spin-off advantages of switching to dwarf container mode will be realised by local steel and fabrication industry. Since Dwarf containers by international standards are non standard, their non-ready availability in international market will provide opportunity to local players by providing a head start.

Electrification is possible for of UK freight trains

THE Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport – CILT(UK) – has released its electrification strategy research which reveals the significant opportunity of electrification across the UK’s rail network.

CILT has released a detailed map and strategy which demonstrates and details the opportunity in the UK to electrify 95% of rail freight operations by the mid2040s. The research reveals that only 800 miles of additional electrification is needed in the UK to enable 95% of rail freight to be electrically hauled. The initial 60 miles of Infill electrification is estimated to cost c.£50m p.a. over two years – less than the cost of one road scheme - and represent a ‘no regrets’ way of decarbonising key parts of the UK logistics system.

Currently, a mere 10% of British freight trains are hauled by electric locomotives and the UK lags behind its European counterparts when it comes to rail freight electrification.

Furthermore, CILT suggests an electrification programme of 40 route miles per annum for 20 years, at a cost of £100 million per annum, is required to deliver this significant opportunity for the UK to meet its decarbonation and net-zero goals.

While decarbonising technology for other modes of transport is still emerging, and therefore sometimes challenging to introduce, electrified rail transport is a fully mature, proven green technology which has been in use for more than 60 years. CILT sees this opportunity as ‘low-hanging fruit’ when it comes to decarbonisation and reducing emissions from transport operations.

Based on detailed analysis of data on rail freight movements across the UK, the routes proposed for electrification lead from main container ports to inland distribution centres,

which are key supply chain hubs, and from major quarries to urban areas that require large quantities of construction materials. Also included are routes serving other key rail freight customers such as the steel industry.

The research also specifies three priority areas in its electrification strategy:

Electrification of the key cross-country route from Felixstowe to the Midlands and North avoiding London (the

for 95%

‘F2MN’ route). This provides a direct link to the West Coast Main Line at Nuneaton for the North West and Scotland and, along with the line from Peterborough via Lincoln to Doncaster, a direct link to Yorkshire and the North East. It would allow zero-carbon electric trains to be used in place of diesel trunk HGVs on the A14, M6, and A1.

The next phase would electrify the link from Britain’s third largest container port at Southampton to inland markets. The first stage involves electrification from Basingstoke to Reading and from Didcot, via East West Rail, to Bletchley on the West Coast Main Line. A second stage would see the route from Southampton to Basingstoke via Andover being electrified. Diesel trunk HGVs on the A34, A43 and M40 could be replaced by zero-carbon electric rail services.

The third phase of the CILT electrification strategy involves routes from major quarries and cement works in the Peak District and the Mendips. This would allow electric haulage of heavy construction materials to Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and the South East. Roads such as the A6 and A38 in the Midlands and North, plus the A36, A303, M3 and M4 in the South, would be relieved of diesel HGVs.

Electrificationn strategy

Julian Worth FCILT, Chair of CILT’s Rail Freight Forum and lead author of the strategy (above) said: “The CILT electrification strategy would allow circa 95% of UK freight trains to be hauled by electric locomotives by the mid-2040s, saving considerable amounts of carbon every year. The strategy benefits passengers

as well as freight customers. Almost all the routes involved carry passenger trains and the strategy would enable life-expired diesel trains to be replaced by modern electric units.

Policy groups

Sharon Kindleysides FCILT, Chief Executive at CILT said: “CILT is committed to helping policy makers, industry and professionals play their part in the route to net-zero. Our policy groups have worked tirelessly on this research to demonstrate the opportunity electrifying our rail freight sector presents. The CILT electrification strategy also strongly supports other policy imperatives, notably levelling-up and union connectivity and sees rail freight electrification as a key part of the route to net zero.”

VLI inks deal for nine

Locomotives will join the company's premium fleet to transport cargo on the Ferrovia Centro-Atlântica

VLI – a logistics solutions company that operates ports, railways and terminals –signed a contract today for nine Wabtec Evolution Series locomotives (ES43BBI model), which will join the company's premium fleet for the transport of cargo on the Ferrovia Centro-Atlântica (FCA ). The order, valued at approximately R$200 million, represents another investment by VLI in the national rolling stock industry. The first locomotives are expected to be delivered in about 18 months.

The new locomotives meet the increased demand for cargo transport in the company's Central-East corridor, through which freight from the steel industry, agribusiness, coal, fertilizers, fuel, and cellulose are shipped towards the port system of Espírito Santo. Those shipments include a recently signed 30-year contract with LD Cellulose to transport dissolving pulp. VLI will move 500,000 tonnes of material produced in the Triângulo Mineiro to the port of Barra do Riacho (ES) each year.

“The signing of this contract reinforces our commitment to customers who transport their cargo with VLI on the Ferrovia Centro-Atlântica and our team's ability to co-create solutions to generate efficiency. It is also important to remember that the early renewal of the Ferrovia Centro-Atlântica concession contract will bring new increases in cargo volumes and, consequently, more incentives for national wagon and locomotive manufacturers,” says Fábio Marchiori, interim CEO of VLI and director of Finance, Supply Chain and Company Services.

For the LD Cellulose contract, the company invested R$400 million in wagons specially designed to transport dissolving pulp.

Expansion of load in Espírito Santo

In addition to the flows recently started by the company, such

as LD Celulose, VLI is studying new investments and opportunities to increase the volumes transported to the ports of Espírito Santo. An example of this is the recent announcement of a memorandum of understanding with Vports (formerly Codesa) for expansion works at the new Port of Vitória, with the aim of increasing the volume of cargo transported through the site. The document assumes that the studies to be carried out jointly may conclude that there is an opportunity for investments in railroads, ports, and terminals of up to R$200 million.

The study estimates an increase of about 5 million tons of mineral and vegetable solid bulks to the current cargo matrix in the State's import and export flows. To handle this increase in transported volumes, VLI also will analyze the need to acquire new wagons and locomotives.

Now, VLI moves about 25 million tonnes per year in the ports and railroads of Espírito Santo, with cargo that travels along the Centro-Atlântica Railway, in Minas Gerais, and the Vitória-Minas Railway, where VLI operates by right-of-way, to access the ports of Espírito Santo. The current port operation is concentrated in the Praia Mole, Granéis Líquidos and Produtos Diversos, installed in the Complexo Portuário de Tubarão. However, the company believes in the growth of this corridor and is studying new public and private port opportunities in Espírito Santo.

About the Locomotives

The ES43BBi is a heavy-haul locomotive specifically designed for 1000-mm gauge railways in Brazil. It is equipped with a powerful 12-cylinder, 4500-horsepower Evolution Series engine and eight powered axles designed to operate in Brazil’s extreme environments. Along with the service-proven Evolutions Series engine, the ES43BBi boasts a technologically

nine Wabtec locos

advanced AC-traction system with individual axle control and robust articulated trucks. The locomotive also is equipped with a redesigned air-to-air system and extra blowers directly integrated onto the traction motors. It also provides lower lifecycle costs due to improved fuel efficiency, lower emissions, and reduced parts wear. The locomotive also features the RailConnect 360 software solutions, including Trip Optimizer, LOCOTROL Distributed Power System, PTC, and PTC 2.0, which further increases efficiency, safety, and optimizes train driving.

“The Wabtec ES43BBi was developed in Brazil, by Brazilian engineers to focus on increasing productivity, efficiency, reducing fuels, and emissions for railroads that operate in metric gauge,” said Danilo Miyasato, President and Leader of Wabtec LatAm. “Given the challenges posed by the metric gauge and national logistics, Wabtec combined VLI's needs

with the most innovative AC locomotive technology. Today, there are more than 50 locomotives of this model in operation in the country with high levels of reliability and availability.”

Central-Atlantic Railroad

The Centro-Atlântica Railroad runs through seven Brazilian states, transporting wealth from different segments, such as agribusiness, steel, and civil construction to supply the domestic and foreign markets. The early renewal of the FCA concession, currently under way by the regulatory bodies, could mark a new cycle of growth, investments, and contribution to the national railway industry, due to the acquisition of new wagons and locomotives to transport the expected increase in load, providing an even broader and more efficient service to customers.

Roadmap for acceleration digital rail freight

By Jonathan Webb

acceleration of freight

A ROADMAP has been agreed between The Eurasian Economic Union’s (EAEU) Member States and China to accelerate the digitalisation of rail freight between them. Once this objective is realised it is expected to significantly boost rail freight services between China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and Armenia.

The signing of the agreement took place during a meeting between Andrey Slepnev, trade minister of the Eurasian Economic Commission, and Li Fei, assistant minister of commerce of the People’s Republic of China. This ceremony occurred during the third meeting of the Joint Commission on the Implementation of the Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation held virtually.

Roadmap

The roadmap consists of three sections : digitalisation of transport corridors, dialogues on foreign trade policy, as well as conducting a joint scientific study on the effects of various scenarios for deepening cooperation between the EAEU and China, an EEC. Slepney insisted that section 1 is the most important, due to the focus being on the gradual transition to electronic digital signature documentation. According to Slepney this will “simplify trade

procedures and speed up cargo transportation between involved countries”.

Section two of the roadmap is concerned with forming a dialogue regarding trade policy issues that can effect international trade. It has been agreed with the Chinese side, that topics for discussion in 2023-2024 are the green agenda, policies to increase foreign trade for both sides and ways to protect domestic markets and electronic commerce.

Section three revolves around the scientific circles of the EAEU and China, including carrying out a comprehensive analysis for increasing trade and economic cooperation between the EAEU, its member states and China.

Already intention

An agreement on trade and economic cooperation between the EAEU and China has been in existence since 2018. The countries involved have been striving towards creating a seamless connectivity between them. It has been decided to develop the project further as the conditions have been judged to be of benefit for such a policy.

There is great potential for the expansion of the EAEU with most of its members currently, or expected to be in the near future, involved

in the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).

Russia fights for freight balance

China and Russia have developed a close working relationship in the Silk Road context and outside of it. This relationship took on new significance last year, following the commencement of hostilities in Ukraine. The Ukraine war saw rail freight volumes between Russia and China increase, while at the same time volumes between China and Europe suffered a considerable drop.

Russia has seen this as an opportunity and has been attempting to address the transport power balance, established before 2022, by absorbing the majority of Chinese freight volumes at the same time as it explores new markets and corridors such as the INSTC. This is seen as a medium to long term objective of Russia to dominate central Asia rail freight and to target markets in India.

Traditionally China has long been a partner of numerous countries throughout the region and most EAEU states.

This fact alone means it is no surprise that China should wish digitalise rail freight transport in the region, knowing that it will bring with it generous economic and geostrategic benefits.

SUBMISSION OF THE COI REPORT

THE 4F ALLIANCE WELCOMES THE PLAN PRESENTED BY THE FRENCH PRIME MINISTER, CONCERNED OVER UNCERTAIN INVESTMENTS IN RAIL FREIGHT

THE 4F alliance welcomes the consultation carried out with the stakeholders as well as the quality and seriousness of the IOC report, which resolutely opts for ecological planning by focusing on rail. The investments planned for the regeneration of the rail network are particularly welcome, but the Alliance 4F is still waiting for signs specifically dedicated to rail freight, which at this stage do not exist.

The investments announced on February 24 by the Prime Minister are in line with France's European decarbonisation commitments. During the presentation of the COI report, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne called for a “voluntary” programming law to give visibility. This measure is particularly appreciated by 4F, which has been suggesting it for three years.

However, to achieve the legal objective of doubling the modal share of rail freight by 2030 (i.e. 18% of goods transported by rail by the deadline), this strategic plan , "essential base" according to the COI, must be backed to an investment plan dedicated to rail freight, which 4F estimates at €3.5 billion. 4F regrets in this respect the lack of distinction between infrastructure

expenditure dedicated to the rail system as a whole, which in fact primarily serves passenger traffic, and that specific to freight, such as marshalling yards, multimodal platforms, capillary lines or even network compliance to allow the transport of international road trailers. Rail freight thus appears to be regrettably diluted in this plan.

Alliance 4F also insists on the need to include in the plan a mechanism to guarantee rail freight traffic during the major periods of work expected.

Furthermore, with regard to combined transport and train/truck intermodality, the 4F Alliance estimates that four additional intermodal terminals will be needed by 2027, and fifteen by 2030. On this crucial subject, the COI report is far below the required level. Similarly , the report does not specify the investments concerning the adaptation of infrastructures to the P400 gauge, a key issue for the development of combined transport. The realisation of certain structuring projects itself remains vague, for example that of the Lyon-Turin railway tunnel.

As promising as it is, this report therefore calls for significant additional work, which alone will make

it possible to detail the projects, financing and schedules for the implementation of the €3.5 billion that the profession considers essential. With this in mind, the first working meeting with SNCF Réseau and the DGITM has been set for today (March 6).

The 4F Alliance proposes that investments be primarily oriented towards four major areas of investments: investment in gauges with the P400 to develop the transport of semi-trailers to give the same traffic capacities as the rest of Europe; combination terminals; yards and service tracks, to improve the quality of service and the productivity of rail operations; widen the accessibility of rail transport to as many shippers as possible.

“The 4F Alliance welcomes the government's desire to rely on rail to decarbonise transport. It remains mobilised and determined to achieve the objective of doubling the modal share set out in the "Climate and Resilience" law of 2022. The 4F Alliance will be vigilant as to the materialisation of these investment announcements, in particular in a multiannual programming, in order to move from intention to action," said the 4F spokesperson.

XPO trials industry-first multimodal

XPO, a leading provider of freight transportation services, has initiated another first with its three-month trial of an innovative multimodal solution that is unique in the UK. The company will migrate volumes destined for Scotland from its shared user pallet network to a new multimodal solution utilising overnight rail service for the linehaul portion. Malcolm Logistics provides the rail service through a key partnership agreement with XPO and accommodates loads of all sizes.

XPO first introduced a road-rail option in the UK in 2022, combining full truckload transport and daytime rail service for pipe manufacturer Wavin. The new solution’s combination of pallet network and overnight rail maintains the lead times required and

is expected to be faster than traditional trucking at a comparable cost, with significantly less environmental impact. XPO customers in the Midlands who ship to Scotland can reduce the greenhouse gas emission of a pallet by up to 79%.

The current trial covers a distance of more than 500 kilometres from Crick to Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal in Northamptonshire, onward to Mossend Rail Terminal in Scotland, and then to XPO’s distribution hub in Motherwell. The multimodal transit time from Crick to Motherwell is about two hours less than the same journey by truck and avoids the risk of road delays, whilst also reducing road congestion. As each vehicle journey is about 600 miles, there is a savings of 705 kg of CO2 per trip.

Dan Ireland, challenge tomers and motivating. by almost tomer whose day.”

XPO in Europe, less-than-truckload, port, last company needs across trial sectors

multimodal solution

Track damage between Pencoed and Llanharan, South Wales

Myers, XPO’s managing director – UK and said, "The passion of our entire team is to challenge ourselves to be better, to support our cusand to realise improvements, which is hugely motivating. This single initiative will reduce emissions almost 513,000 kilos of CO2 per annum for a cuswhose shipments require two vehicle trips per

is a leading innovator of transport services Europe, including technology-enabled truckload, less-than-truckload, truck brokerage, managed translast mile and freight forwarding. In addition, the company tailors its solutions to customer-specific across a range of consumer, trade and indussectors and world-class events.

ON the night of 5 and 6 March 2021, a wagon with severe wheel flats on one of its wheelsets fractured two rails within a mile of each other between Pencoed and Llanharan. The wagon was part of train 6A11 which was travelling from Robeston oil terminal, Milford Haven, to Theale oil terminal, near Reading.

The wheel flats occurred because a wheelset had stopped rotating (locked) while the train was moving during the journey. The investigation found that the wheelset had probably locked during braking in an area of very low railhead adhesion, when the train was travelling along the recently reopened Swansea District line. The rails on that line were rusty as it had not been used for several months. The environmental conditions were such that the rails were also wet, and it was the combination of rust and moisture which created the very low adhesion experienced by the train.

Network Rail had not taken any specific precautions to ensure that an adequate level of adhesion was available when reopening the line. This arose because Network Rail’s focus when managing low adhesion was on the autumnal leaf fall season and it had not acted on the advice provided by a cross industry working group on the adhesion- related precautions to take when reopening an unused line.

In light of the findings of this report, RAIB considers that very low adhesion may be an alternative potential causal factor of relevance to the Ferryside accident (RAIB report 17/2018). An addendum has been added to the Ferryside report discussing this potential causal factor. This update does not alter the safety recommendations made in the earlier version of the report.

RAIB has made one recommendation to Network Rail to review its processes in light of the existing industry guidance to manage all occasions outside the leaf fall season which could result in very low levels of wheel/rail adhesion.

LINEAS AND ERTMS SOLUTIONS

SELL THE SIGNALLING COMPANY TO ŠKODA GROUP

LINEAS and ERTMS Solutions have found an agreement on the acquisition by Škoda Group The Signalling Company (TSC) develops its own Class B signaling system for Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany and European Train Control System (ETCS). The company is a joint venture between ERTMS Solutions, an industry leader in railway testing, maintenance and systems integration, and Lineas, the largest private rail freight operator in Europe.

With this transaction, Škoda Group acquires a 93.9% stake in TSC, which currently has 34 employees. The remaining 6.1% stays in the hands of the company's current CEO and COO, Stanislas Pinte and Frederic Du Jardin.

This will allow not only TSC to further develop but also Lineas to be equipped with an ETCS solution which is a crucial element to reach its 2025 objectives. Along with the acquisition of the company itself, Škoda also acquires a running order to equip 110 locomotives with Class B signaling system and ETCS for Europe's largest private rail freight operator, and former shareholder, Lineas. Škoda Group plans to utilise its own ETCS solution in its newly manufactured vehicles in the future.

“Lineas plays a crucial role in decarbonising the industry's supply chain and wants to focus now on its mission, strategic ambitions and customers,” explains Bernard Gustin, CEO of Lineas

“The Signalling Company has been quite an adventure, and it is a subject of pride for ERTMS Solutions to have been part of it, building an ETCS Solution from zero in a radically different way, [as] we develop our own products,” adds Joseph Bours, CEO of ERTMS Solutions

Team Global Express partners with Aurizon to create a new rail footprint for Australia

TEAM Global Express (TGE) has signed an 11-year partnership with Aurizon, worth circa A$1.8bn over the 11 year period, to operate its containerised rail freight along the East-West (Sydney-Melbourne-Adelaide-Perth) and North-South (Brisbane-Sydney-Melbourne) rail freight networks.

Team Global Express, which is Australia’s leading intermodal logistics provider, has partnered with Aurizon as their cornerstone customer in the containerised freight market. Aurizon will utilise seven train services for our operations.

CEO of Team Global Express, Christine Holgate said the partnership will significantly improve Australia’s rail freight capacity and choice for more greener options to deliver important freight across our country:

“Our partnership is game-changing Express customers, important extra choice, in what very limited capacity and

“The weather years have portant both major routes freight, including livered at times

"These denced the rail as a greener ing freight, change and bon ambitions.

“Through are able

partnership with Aurizon game-changing for Team Global customers, securing them extra capacity and more what to date has been a rail market, with restricted and rising tariffs.

weather events of recent have demonstrated how imboth choice and capacity on routes are, to ensure important including food, can still be detimes of great need.

events have also eviimportance of leveraging greener solution for transportto help address climate and secure our nation’s carambitions.

“Through this partnership, we to offer our customers

much-needed capacity along crucial routes linking major cities across our country.

"This presents significant opportunities for reliable deliveries, service efficiencies and less carbon intensive transport solutions for customers, whilst helping ensure regional Australians are served.”

Managing Director and CEO of Aurizon, Andrew Harding said: “Together with TGE we have designed an innovative transport and logistics solution to best meet their end customer needs.

“We both share a strong commitment to helping achieve a net zero emissions future and recognise the significant role rail can play in helping achieve that goal.”

Team Global Express operates

Australia’s most comprehensive and far-reaching intermodal fleet, operating across rail, sea, air and road. Today’s announcement is another milestone supporting Team Global Express’s business transformation, which rebranded from Toll Global Express last year.

“We have a vision to provide Australia’s most sustainable logistics solutions and we are taking active steps to achieve this,” said Holgate.

Last year, Team Global Express announced it was partnering with ARENA to deliver Australia's largest logistics electric vehicle fleet.

The ground-breaking trial involves the purchase of 60 large battery electric vehicles and the development of charging infrastructure using renewable energy.

Sheikh Mohammed bin completion of UAE national

HIS Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, affirmed that the national railway network is an important milestone in the UAE's development journey and an ambitious project that contributes to strengthening the country’s preparations for the future.

Bin Rashid said: “We are proud of the performance of our sons and daughters who have worked hard over the years to build an ambitious strategic project that will propel our national economy to greater heights.”

He added: “Connecting the Emirates via a national railway network strengthens our capabilities and competitiveness, and consolidates our unity.”

The ambitious development project is one of the largest infrastructure projects in the region and aims to link the seven emirates with a main railway

network.

Bin Rashid has also launched the cargo train operations have been launched across all the emirates.

His Highness Sheikh Theyab said: “Emirati talents, with the support of the UAE leadership, have turned the dream of our founding fathers into reality. Thanks to them we won the bet, and we succeeded in launching a railway network with international specifications that extends to about 900 kilometres across the Emirates. We announce the inauguration operation of the freight trains throughout the UAE with a fleet of 38 locomotives and more than 1000 wagons capable of transporting all types of goods.”

His Highness pointed out that "the completion of the network according to the schedule and the approved budget, would not have been possible with-

out the cohesion of our talented Emirati cadres."

The network contributes to supporting companies' businesses and enhancing investment opportunities. The main line of the UAE National Rail Network extends from Ghuweifat on the border of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to Fujairah, forming an essential part of the global supply network.

The stage one of the Network has been fully operational since January 2016, where the stage two of the project started in early 2020.

The UAE national railway network will contribute to supporting the national economy at a value of AED200 billion, and saving AED8 billion in the cost of road maintenance. The network’s tourism benefits are estimated at AED23 billion.

The project has contributed to supporting the local industry by assigning 215 companies and local entities. also, 70% of the building materials used in the project are produced by the local industry.

The project also supports the UAE’s sustainable development goals and contributes to achieving the UAE Net Zero by 2050, through reducing carbon emissions in the

through a variety of geographical terrains, within a large-scale engineering plan that includes the construction of 593 bridges and crossings of all types, and nine tunnels with a length of 6.5 km. It took 120 million cubic metres of excavation work to complete, to ensure the highest levels of vehicular traffic flow under the tracks of the railway network.

The trains

The fleet of the most modern freight trains in the region includes 38 locomotives, with a capacity of 60 million tons of goods annually, and more than 1000 multi-purpose vehicles.

Each goods transport’s locomotive operates with a power of 4500 horsepower, equivalent to 3400 kilowatts. It is one of the most powerful freight train engines in the Middle East.

The freight trains will run up to 120 km/h.

The track is standard guage and operates under the European ETCS level 2 signalling system. It has been specially designed to withstand the geograph

bin Rashid, marks national rail network

road transport sector by 21%, and reducing road transportation emissions per capita by 40%, by 2050.

This national project contributed to supporting the Emiratisation agenda and graduating qualified cadres to work in the sector. Now Emirati nationals are taking over a number of technical positions at Etihad Rail, including the roles of train captain, traffic controller, train inspector in addition to other specialisations.

Eleven contractors, 25 consultants and 28,000 specialists worked on the Project. It took 133 million working hours to complete, and 40,000 approvals from 180 government agencies.

More than 1000 operational documents have been produced, including instructions, handbooks, guidelines, policies, operating procedures, agreements, and others.

The UAE national railway network passes

ical nature, climatic conditions, high temperatures and humidity in the GCC region, to ensure high levels of performance, efficiency and sustainability.

The freight trains will connect four major ports. It will include seven logistics centres across the country, to serve trains and related businesses.

The network also includes a number of charging stations located in Ruwais, Industrial City of Abu Dhabi (ICAD), Khalifa Port, Dubai Industrial City, Jebel Ali Port, Al Ghail and Fujairah Port.

These locations are a major hub for local and regional distribution and logistics services, as it includes customs warehouses and on-site cargo inspection services.

The UAE National Railway Network will provide solutions for investors and customers, due to its ability to transport all types of goods, including petrochemicals, raw steel, assemblies and general cargo. www.freight-tracks.com

Class 18 - Beacon for dynamic vehicle

set the precedent vehicle modelling

DYNAMIC vehicle modelling is the build and simulation of a vehicle, to enable accurate gauging clearance assessment against infrastructure.

In the past, vehicle modelling methodologies contain limited detail of movements, using basic design information that provides a static representation of the vehicle. This made the models largely more conservative.

Dynamic models give added accuracy and provide a realistic representation of the vehicle. This instils higher levels of certainty into the compatibility process and reduces the risk on the network.

The new Class 18, designed and built by Clayton Equipment for shunting operations, demonstrates the latest technology in hybrid power sources. In a bold move towards decarbonisation, the hybrid vehicle will use alternative power sources to move freight across the railway.

D/Gauge worked closely with Clayton Equipment to understand the details of the vehicle design, including the asymmetrical load distribution and non-linear suspension, which was key to the way the vehicle moves. This fed into the creation of the VAMPIRE® Pro model, which enabled us to confidently inform Clayton on specific parts of their vehicle design.

Ryan Wareing: Rolling stock lead from D/Gauge said “It is extremely rewarding that Rolling Stock Leasing Companies and Network Rail can see the benefits

that dynamic vehicle modelling has to offer. The commissioning of the Class 18 model marks a new era in locomotive models, allowing more accurate gauging for the freight and plant communities. We are grateful to work with Beacon in setting a new precedent in the vehicle modelling of locomotives.”

The dynamic vehicle modelling methodology provides greater assurances in the model and its movements when on the track. Beacon commissioned the dynamic vehicle model of Class 18 to reduce risk and maximise compatibility.

Dominic Juner, Beacon’s Class 18 Project Manager, commented: “We want to ensure that the Class 18 can operate in as many locations as possible to maximise the decarbonisation of shunting operations across the railway.

"Analysing the vehicle model dynamically ensures we can provide the greatest safety and utility for our customers. D/ Gauge’s effective, professional, and detailed work will help Beacon to achieve this goal.”

To maximise the value of the project, D/Gauge shared design optimisations to improve clearances on the vehicle.

Clive Hannaford, Managing Director from Clayton equipment, owners and designers of the new vehicle. said “D/ Gauge worked closely with Clayton to optimise the clearances on the vehicle, to expand the reach of the vehicle across the rail environments”.

Nexxiot onboards Chief Data Officer to accelerate AI development for asset intelligence

ÁKOS Maróy, who has been at the forefront of digital deployments, strategy, and innovation for over 20 years, working with some of the largest technology companies in the world, has now joined the Nexxiot team. In the role of CDO (Chief Data Officer), Maróy will oversee the leveraging of asset and cargo data gathered by Nexxiot’s Asset Intelligence technology. The company headquartered in Switzerland serves asset owners, carriers, shippers, and cargo transport stakeholders across the logistics network.

Maróy has been working in the past as a CTO and innovation leader with a focus on deploying AI in various fields. With multiple successes in Cloudbased SAAS architectures in a B2B environment, Maróy is a hands-on leader who strongly believes in creating new value from an R&D-based approach –especially with trending technologies like Machine Learning and AI. With recent experience at both Google and Meta as a manager in software engineering, Maróy joins Nexxiot to support its clients’ growth.

Exciting moment

“It’s an exciting moment for our clients, with so many opportunities to transform their core business processes and convert uncertainty into clear actionable insights,” said Maróy. “Nexxiot’s fast-paced environment, dynamic international culture and values-driven approach resonate with me strongly,” he added.

In his new role, Maróy will bring his long-standing expertise in pushing the boundaries across multiple sectors like tech, media, aviation and biotechnology, to deliver new services to rail, maritime, and diverse logistics clients. He will lead a team in gathering, sanitising, processing and presenting predictable analytics to improve logistics processes and remove the uncertainty around freight transportation.

Stefan Kalmund, Nexxiot’s CEO said: “We greatly

value the knowledge and experience of Ákos Maróy who contributes deep expertise in delivering Cloudbased platform technologies and leveraging data to drive business advantage. He brings outstanding credentials in terms of value creation and has a track record of taking ideas forward into successful implementation.

"It’s an important step for Nexxiot as we demonstrate our commitment to making sure we have the world’s best talent to address our clients' needs and remove uncertainty in freight.”

GB Railfreight raises over £200k for Prostate Cancer UK

ON Friday February 17, GB Railfreight, one of the fastest growing companies in the rail industry, handed over the final cheque of £200,728 to Prostate Cancer UK at its Charity Handover Event at the Leonardo Royal Hotel in London. In attendance were TV presenter and Prostate Cancer UK Ambassador, Rob Bell and Chairman of Network Rail, Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill.

During the partnership, GBRf held a number of fundraising events including a four-day charity charter across the UK rail network which raised over £140,000.

Working together with Prostate Cancer UK, a series of events were organised across the country for men to check their risk levels, for a disease which affects one in eight men across the UK.

Pioneering rail freight operator encourage modal shift using

By Jonathan Webb

MOVING freight by rail is about to become a whole lot easier thanks to a German freight operator introducing new technology that enables freight wagons to be loaded from road vehicles, without the need for specialised loading terminals.

The market launch of the Helrom trailer wagon is being supported as part of the federal program “Future Rail Freight Transport” by the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport with 15 million euros.

It hopes to revolutionise the way that potential customers view the option of moving freight by rail – something that is often not considered practical due to the cost and space needed for traditional infrastructure. In contrast, Helrom's terminal tractor technology allows for the transfer of lorry trailers onto rail wagons, without the need for cranes or any specialist equipment.

All that is required is a roadway adjacent to the loaded siding. The rail wagon's body swings out and lowers, forming a ramp for the trailer to be reversed up, before it swings back into position. At the other end, the simple procedure makes it easy for a tractor unit to haul the trailer off the train. The trailer is secured onto the wagon via a combination of a kingpin to hold the trailer in position, with a master lock providing an additional level of security. Loading a trailer onto a rail wagon only takes a few minutes. Helrom operates the Trailer Rail transport completely independently using its own trains and staff – including train drivers. This has allowed the company to hit strict punctuality and reliability targets.

Simple solution to a longstanding problem

According to Helrom's figures, road transport is responsible for 20% of CO2 emissions. The company went on to state that approximately 74% of freight carried on the road consists of truck trailers – overloading

operator receives grant of €15m to its new wagons

the road networks and causing considerable congestion in the processand much damage to the environment. To date, only 2% of truck trailers are transported by rail. The reasons for this are technological and economic barriers. Almost all of the trailers used in Europe are non-craneable and previously could only be transported on a train with great inconvenience and usually at an exorbitant price. Considerable investments in central loading terminals with long construction times would be needed. The pioneering technology of the Helrom trailer wagon now offers the option for the first time of overcoming these barriers – assisting in the German government's desire to remove as much freight off the roads as possible.

Road starts to lose dominance

Up to the end of 2022, more than 680 Trailer Rail trains have already travelled over the Dusseldorf and Vienna route since the first train ran in 2020. As a result, at least 16,000 truck trailers were taken off the roads and

moved onto the rail. This corresponds to a saving of over 10,000 tons of CO2 emissions.

Roman Noack, CEO of Helrom, spoke of the importance of the sponsorship: “The sponsorship of about €15 million is a great honour for us. It is a tremendous success for the transport transition in Germany and for our goal of net zero transport. We have proven that a significant reduction in CO2 emissions is realisable in freight transport in just a few years – flexibly, comprehensively and without major infrastructure investments. Our solution is economically feasible and very easy to implement. As a result, we not only offer big corporations a real alternative to road transport, we open use of the railways for the first time to all small and medium-sized companies.”

www.freight-tracks.com

US FREIGHT BUNDLE - FULL POWER FOR FALLEN FLAGS

If there’s one nation that LOVES its freight trains, it’s the USA. With new American content arriving in Train Sim World 3 on February 21, both these and passenger trains are now covered in two separate bundles for new and existing players to enjoy from UK-based software house Dovetail.

Fans of Fallen Flag Railroads will soon have the six Union Pacific Heritage Collection locomotives to operate across six scenarios in an upgraded version of the Sherman Hill route Add-on.

This fleet of SD70ACe locos, unveiled across 2005 and 2006, commemorate some of the iconic railroads that once graced America before being merged. Union Pacific has over 600 SD70ACe locomotives in its fleet with most featuring the standard yellow livery, making these six a real treat for railfans to spot. You will also be able to railfan in-game with a very small percentage chance of these appearing in regular scheduled services.

UP 1982 Missouri Pacific

THE tribute to the Missouri Pacific Railroad, or ‘Mo-Pac’ is a combination of this railroad’s liveries from two distinct eras: the 1940s and 1960s, and mixes the different emblems and hues of blue used during these time periods. Though part of the heritage fleet, these locomotives can be used just like any other! And in “Heritage Help Out”, 1982 joins up with 1988 to go and rescue failed traction at Granite Canyon.

UP 1988 Missouri-Kansas-Texas 'The Katy'

“SHE caught ‘the Katy’ and left me a mule to ride.” is what ‘Joliet’ Jake Blues sang in the 1980 cult classic film The Blues Brothers, but the song dates back to 1968. ‘The Katy’ is the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad which operated from 1865 – 1988, covering almost 4000 miles of track before it merged with Union Pacific. Locomotive 1988, which commemorates ‘The Katy’ joins forces with 1982 again in the “Dust or Bust” Scenario running from Granite Canyon to Laramie.

UP 1983 Western Pacific

The colours of locomotive 1983 depict both the silver and orange paint used on passenger trains during the late 1940s and the green and orange used as part of its final colour schemes in the 1970s. As its name suggests the railroad operated in the west through California, Nevada and Utah. 1983 sees both the high glamor and hard graft of railroad work in Train Sim World 3, being used in Scenarios recreating a photoshoot and a coal shipment with some of its heritage fleet

UP 1989 Denver & Rio Grande Western

THW jagged black graphics on 1989 are an apt depiction of the mountainous terrain encountered by those familiar with the Rio Grande and work well with the historic colours that commemorate the Denver & Rio Grande Western. This locomotive forms part of “The Gathering” Scenario and works the coal shipment with others in “Dust or Bust”.

UP 1995 Chicago & North Western

CHICAGO is often termed ‘the railroading capital of America’ and it was here in 2006 that locomotive 1995 was unveiled as part of the heritage fleet in its stunning green and yellow livery. Its number matches the year that this historic railroad merged with Union Pacific. This locomotive and its next-in-line 1996 team up to operate reefers between Laramie to Cheyenne in the “Hot Shot” Scenario.

UP 1996 Southern Pacific

LIKE 1995, 1996 is numbered to coincide with the year that its fallen flag, the Southern Pacific, merged with Union Pacific and was the final locomotive to be unveiled as part of the six commemorative Heritage fleet members. As well as “Hot Shot”, this unit poses for the cameras with 1983 and 1982 in the “Circle of Celebration” Scenario.

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