Rail News

The Port of Mombasa’s aspirations to remain the largest container port in East Africa were dealt a blow after the Uganda government said that it would not prioritize the building of a multi-purpose freight railway between Kampala and the Rwandan capital of Kigali.

Canadian National Railway net income rose $4.6 million year-over-year in the second quarter, as intermodal volume and revenue growth, along with improved operations, offset carload softness.

Kansas City Southern Railway’s admittedly below-par intermodal rail service lost the company business, particularly highly-prized auto business, to other railroads and the trucking sector, executives said Friday on a second-quarter earnings call.

Transcontainer, Russia’s largest container rail shipping company, has had to adjust its plans to significantly expand its terminal network during the next several years as sanctions continue to take their toll on the Russian economy.

Kansas City Southern Railway profit dropped 13.9 percent in the second quarter of 2015, amid slowing intermodal volume growth which fell to 2 percent year-over-year in the last quarter.

CSX Transportation is recovering after losing domestic intermodal business to the trucking sector in 2014, railroad executives said on an earnings call Wednesday.

CSX Transportation surprised Wall Street and industry analysts, posting all-time record high second quarter earnings, but they were clear: The railroad won’t be as fortunate next quarter.

The profit train U.S-based Class I railroads have been riding is slowing, resulting in expectations for solid but unspectacular profit reports for the second quarter, according to industry analysts.

Discount retailer Dollar Tree is building a $104.4 million distribution center in 'upstate' South Carolina, near the Greer Inland Port and the I-85 corridor, expanding its Southeastern logistics footprint.

Gateway Distriparks Ltd., India’s leading port-based logistics provider, has received government approvals for the construction of a new inland container depot facility at Viramgam, near Ahmedabad in Gujarat State, allowing hinterland shippers improved rail access to the country’s western gateway ports.

Norfolk Southern Railway is planning a $34 million plan to expand its Rickenbacker Intermodal Terminal outside of Columbus to meet growing distribution demand in central Ohio.

Union Pacific Railroad has embargoed international intermodal cargo originating from the U.S. West Coast at its Denver terminal due to a “severe” shortage of chassis there.

Shippers tapping containerized rail services between the Port of Antwerp and Duisburg are poised to see greater reliability and experience less congestion at the North European seaport after the former joined forces with duisport, Europe’s largest inland port.

India’s transportation infrastructure upgrade program got another push with the World Bank approving the release of $650 million, the third tranche of a long–term program to help build up New Delhi’s much-delayed, eastern, dedicated freight corridor project.

Intermodal industry veteran Steven L. Rubin has been appointed chief executive officer of ITS Technologies & Logistics. ITS provides outsourced operating services for intermodal railroad facilities, container yard services for global shipping and container leasing companies and automotive loading and unloading services.

State-owned rail operator Container Corporation of India has slashed its charges for the movement of empty containers between Chennai Port and Bangalore, providing some respite for shippers struggling with port delays and ocean carrier surcharges.

The value of the goods shipped between the U.S. and Canada dropped 12.5 percent in April, thanks to low oil prices, a strong U.S. dollar and a shrinking Canadian economy.

Kazakhstan’s national rail operator and DHL Global Forwarding have signed a memorandum of understanding that will provide the logistics operator with additional block trains on the fast-developing land bridge between China and Europe.

European ports’ hinterland connections will get a boost via the European Union’s largest-ever infrastructure investment totaling 13.1 billion euro ($14.5 billion).

Spurred by growing container volumes, terminal operator Hutchison Port Holdings’ Barcelona subsidiary has expanded the port’s hinterland connectivity.

Northern Nevada tops the list for shippers in advanced manufacturing interested in returning to or expanding existing facilities in the U.S., according to recent study from a national site-selection firm. And while the cost of logistics didn’t figure quantitatively into the firm’s ultimate rankings, total landed costs did.

In a significant infrastructure investment push, the government of India has approved new cost estimates for its long-planned eastern and western dedicated freight corridor projects, designed to upgrade intermodal connectivity between hinterlands and gateway ports in the country.

Tightening capacity fueled by growing demand spells the end to historically low logistics costs, according to the latest State of Logistics report out of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals.

Tanzania has instituted a 1.5 percent levy on all imports to fund rail projects intended to bolster national and international connectivity.

U.S. shippers are finding it more and more difficult to rationalize shifting their cargo from highway to rail. And questionable service reliability and accelerating intermodal rates are to blame, according to intermodal analysts and a recent shipper survey.

US freight shipments rose for the fourth straight month, sequentially, in May, though year-over-year comparisons are tough, according to the Cass Freight Index. Imports are keeping trailers filled as low fuel prices blunt the rise of shipping costs.

The creation of a containerized rail operator by the Eurasian Customs Union is aimed at capitalizing on growing volume moving between Europe and Asia.

DHL Global Forwarding has moved quickly to take advantage of increased interest in the China-Europe rail route following Beijing’s launch of the One Belt, One Road strategy, adding a new twice-weekly service between Zhengzhou and Hamburg.

"Shippers are still driven by costs rather than green ethics," according to a senior manager of financial consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers.

U.S. railcar shippers Wednesday welcomed a new report advocating for an overhaul of the the country’s freight rail regulations — sweeping reforms that are well beyond the purview of even the country’s federal rail regulatory agency.

BNSF Railway is aiming to regain domestic intermodal volume lost to Union Pacific Railroad by introducing more and faster expedited services connecting Chicago and St. Paul, Minnesota, to the Pacific Northwest.

A surge in hiring and job openings at transportation and warehousing companies in April indicates logistics businesses are preparing for a stronger, if not stellar, second quarter and second half.

RoadOne IntermodaLogistics will expands its services and footprints for both domestic and international business after receiving a substantial investment.

For the first time on record, monthly intermodal traffic has exceeded carload traffic on U.S. rails, due in large part to a soft industrial economy.

Far East ports, such Vladivostok and Khabarovsk, will drive Russian container volume growth, as trade between Russia and China grows through greater economic cooperation, according to new government forecast out of Moscow.

Privately-operated Krishnapatnam Port Container Terminal, riding high on significant traffic gains last fiscal year, has received a further boost with state-owned rail operator Container Corporation of India launching a new hinterland link to the east coast harbor.

Florida East Coast Railway is offering next-day intermodal service on Saturdays to Fort Pierce, about 240 miles south of Jacksonville. The weekend service will help retailers replenish shelves before Mondays.

Canadian National Railway is buying more refrigerated intermodal equipment as the prospect of tighter regulation of food supply chains poses a challenge for shippers.

State-owned rail operator Container Corporation of India reported an 11.5 percent increase in consolidated net earnings in fiscal year 2014-15, which ended March 31, on the back of strong volume gains from its core international freight hauling activity.