SWISS Federal Railways (SBB) increased its group net profit by 56.6% in 2014 to SFr 373m ($US 259.6m) with growth in all sectors.
THE European Commission has pledged €136m in matching funding from its Cohesion Fund for the development of the standard-gauge freight line from the Portuguese port of Sines to the border town of Elvas.
GENESEE & Wyoming (G&W) confirmed on March 25 that it has completed the £492m acquisition of approximately 94% of Freightliner Group, Britain, from Arcapita and other shareholders, plus approximately £19m of net debt and capitalised leases.
SAUDI Railways Organisation (SRO) has awarded a Riyals 160.2m ($US 42.7m) contract to China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) for the second phase of a project to upgrade the track on the freight line linking Riyadh, Harad and Dammam.
SWISS railfreight operator BLS Cargo announced its annual results on March 17, revealing a 75% increase in profits to SFr 2.5m ($US 2.5m) and a 49% increase in Ebit to SFr 4 million in 2014 despite an 8% drop in net earnings, which fell to SFr 167.9m.
GERMAN Rail (DB) recorded a 5.7% reduction in Ebit to €2.1bn in 2014 despite a 1.5% increase in total revenue to €39.7bn.
THE Kenyan government has told a High Court hearing that Rift Valley Railways (RVR), which has a concession to operate the metre gauge Kenya-Uganda Railway, must continue to pay a road maintenance levy for highway maintenance even though it is a purely railway operation.
Freight wagons remain the source of high levels of noise despite European legislation prohibiting the use of cast-iron brake blocks on new wagons. Dr Martin Toward, Dr Giacomo Squicciarini, and Professor David Thompson from the University of Southampton's Institute of Sound and Vibration Research look at current efforts to mitigate rolling noise and curve squeal from freight rolling stock.
THE government of Vietnam has approved a strategy outlining improvements to the country's existing railway network up to 2020 and a vision for the development of new infrastructure up to 2050.
SLOVAKIAN railfreight operator ZSSK Cargo has sold its fleet of 12,342 wagons to a newly-formed joint venture company under a sale-and-lease-back agreement signed on March 5.
