TASRAIL, the operator of the 1067mm-gauge freight network in the Australian state of Tasmania, held a ceremony at its Brighton Transport Hub on March 31 to mark the delivery of the last of 209 new wagons from CNR Shenyang Locomotive and Rolling Stock, China.
AMERICAN private equity firm KKR has confirmed that it has established European Locomotive Leasing (ELL), which is based in Austria and Germany, and will provide full-service locomotive leasing solutions for freight and passenger operators in continental Europe initially through a fleet of 50 Siemens Vectron locomotives.
CSR Qishuyan Locomotive Company, China, has completed a batch of five SDA2 diesel locomotives, which will be used by Pacific National (PN), Australia, on the 1067mm-gauge heavy-haul coal network in central Queensland.
BOMBARDIER announced on March 19 that it has received an order worth around €60m for 15 Traxx DE ME multi-engine diesel locomotives from Germany-based financial joint venture Paribus-DIF Netz West Lokomotiven.
THE Illinois Department of Transportation (Idot) has formally awarded a $US 228m contract to Siemens and Cummins to supply 32 diesel-electric locomotives for use on Amtrak services in the states of Illinois, California, Michigan, Missouri and Washington.
TRANSNET celebrated its biggest-ever locomotive order on March 17, when it signed contracts worth Rand 50bn ($US 4.7bn) with four international suppliers for a total of 1064 locomotives for its Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) subsidiary.
LITHUANIA is a crossroads for freight traffic between the Black Sea and the Baltic and east-west routes from Russia to Western Europe. This means that despite the relatively modest size of its railway network, the country punches well above its weight when it comes to moving freight by rail. In 2012, Lithuanian Railways (LG) carried 14.17 billion tonne-km of freight on its 1767km 1520mm-gauge system, placing it tenth in the European railfreight rankings.
BOMBARDIER's F140 AC LM 'Last Mile' electro-diesel locomotive entered service with Swiss railfreight operator BLS Cargo on March 6, when one of the class 187 locomotives was used to haul new multiple units from the Stadler plant at Bussnang to a non-electrified freight terminal in Visp.
POLISH State Railways (PKP) long-distance subsidiary PKP Intercity has awarded Pesa, Poland, a Zlotys 131.2m ($US 43.4m) contract to supply 10 four-axle 140km/h diesel-electric locomotives.
CONGO National Railways (SNCC) has awarded a contract to China CNR Corportation for the supply of 18 diesel-electric locomotives.
