International rail

Block train activity has lately become a hot carrier play as operators active out of India work to deftly manage available capacity in an elevated freight market.

The new Balli intermodal play in India builds on Maersk’s ongoing efforts to target new customer segments predominantly tethered to transshipping in the absence of long-haul direct carrier calls in the region.

CMA CGM has acquired a rail operator in Spain, adding an intermodal dimension to the ocean carrier’s expanding integrated service portfolio.

Heightened cargo demand and congestion issues at transshipment hub Colombo, Sri Lanka, are spurring new containerized rail services to India’s interior.

As cost-conscious India shippers seek “more for less,” value-added services have begun to occupy center stage in freight contract negotiations, including bespoke intermodal services.

Maersk has teamed up with intermodal rail giant Container Corporation of India to offer block train movement from Kolkata to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust to feed the carrier’s weekly long-haul sailings out of the busy public harbor.

Carriers believe new Indian rail incentives, coupled with the recent lifting of a 14-day quarantine for incoming Chinese vessels, will have a positive impact on inventory flow.

As container volume has picked up, trucking and logistics executives say that CSX’s domestic intermodal service has become unreliable in two key southeast US rail ramps.

BNSF has named Kathryn Farmer, who has been with the western railroad for 28 years, as its new CEO effective Jan. 1, 2021. She will become the first female CEO of a North American Class I railroad.

Union Pacific Railroad will institute a $500 surcharge on excess cargo for all shippers in Seattle to divert as many assets to Los Angeles as possible amid record-breaking cargo spikes in Southern California.

For the third time this month, Union Pacific has increased spot rates and its peak season surcharge in Los Angeles, raising prices on small shippers to record levels and likely pushing excess cargo back to trucking.

Freight forwarders in the US Midwest and Eastern Canada fear the rail problems plaguing Vancouver could quickly result in excessive delays in delivering containers to the eastern half of the continent.

While Indian rail operators have a long way to go to sufficiently meet the bargains BCOs are seeking to permanently migrate away from their traditional mode of transport, those gaps seem to be narrowing.

A containerized train carrying 50 TEU from India reached Bangladesh’s Benapole port on Sunday, opening a new avenue for trade between the two countries that will cut time and costs.

The developer of a Texas industrial park scheduled to open in early 2021 says it will work with Kansas City Southern of Mexico to offer a shorter, cheaper way for Mexican manufacturers to ship goods to Houston and other Texas markets.

Despite Mexico’s sluggish economy, the intermodal sector could see benefits in 2020 from the expected implementation of the United States Mexico Canada Agreement and new rail services.

Touting it as a game-changing move, Indian Railways has opened consultations with stakeholders to introduce double-stack “dwarf container” train operations at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in a bid to better compete with over-the-road haulers.

The country's government is looking to improve cargo fluidity at key seaports and border crossings — and reduce traffic on congested roads — via increased use of intermodal rail and a new marine highway program.

As volumes on the China–Europe rail route continue to grow, stakeholders are looking at ways to make the network more efficient, as well as potential reforms to the system of subsidies that fund operations.

Despite the lifting of Russian sanctions on the transit of agricultural products through its territory, some big issues stand in the way of rising volume.

If the heavy support of subsidies from China was withdrawn quickly, it is likely only higher-value products would be viable on the China-Europe rail network.

The week-long strike by workers at Canadian National Railroad will end Tuesday after the railroad and Teamsters reached a contract agreement that will go to the union membership for ratification.

Canadian Pacific Railroad is looking to enhance the services offered at its facility in Montreal, starting with the construction of a transload terminal that will open next year.

Canadian National’s ability to maintain international intermodal services will deteriorate the longer the strike lasts.

Business leaders urged the Canadian government to help resolve the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference’s strike against Canadian National Railroad as the job action entered its second day.

Inland container depot movement by train has steadily gained traction over the past three months at India’s JNPT in the wake of a more collaborative rail arrangement sealed between the port and terminal stakeholders.

The third blockage this year of the main rail line into the Mexican Port of Lázaro Cárdenas, which is operated by Kansas City Southern of Mexico (KCSM) will likely add to shipper fears that moving cargo by rail is unreliable.

Hyundai Merchant Marine has set up weekly block train operations from India’s Bharat Mumbai Container Terminals to a key northern India hinterland point; the service launched this week with a 90-TEU railcar.

Trains began running again into the Mexican Port of Lazaro Cardenas Thursday, two days after protestors halted train traffic at the port, raising anew concerns of reliability of the country’s railroad system in moving freight.

Growth in container volumes and efficiency enhancements at key border crossings should contribute to a strong, but relatively smooth peak season for rail service between China and Europe.

The president of Mexico said work is continuing on a project to create a modern, efficient freight-moving operation by rail across the narrowest stretch of Mexico, which links ports on the Pacific and Gulf coasts.

Kansas City Southern’s cross-border intermodal rail volumes increased in the second quarter amid truck delays, but the railroad’s intermodal business as a whole struggled to compete with a lower-priced trucking sector.

Despite huge growth in container volume transported by rail between China and Europe, the journey time is decreasing as services become more efficient.

CMA CGM’s latest rail investment in India continues to tap into the country’s emerging inland market.

Concor looks to potentially expand its short-sea network, even beyond India. It has its eyes on the Bangladesh transshipment market.

The new expanded intermodal rail yard has reopened at the Port of Virginia, doubling capacity for CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern. The port says this means quicker transfers from ships to trains.

The massive expansion of Mexico’s second largest port will include a second rail line that will allow direct access for Kansas City Southern of Mexico in addition to Ferrosur at present.

Coastal transshipment at Indian ports has grown considerably since the relaxation of cabotage rules, but detractors argue that privately operated minor ports have reaped more of the benefits than their publicly run counterparts.

India’s largest freight rail operator will maintain its current pricing through March 31, 2020, as part of a greater effort to encourage containerized rail movements throughout the country.

Kansas City Southern (KCS) reported a decline in first-quarter intermodal volumes due to the teacher blockade that stopped cargo going in and out of the port of Lazaro Cardenas by rail.