FINLAND’s VR Group turned an operating loss of €2.6m in the first half of 2015 into a profit of €1.2m for the first half of 2016 thanks to an increase in passenger and freight rail traffic.
GB Railfreight, Britain, has agreed to lease 41 new Greenbrier wagons from Nacco Leasing after securing a five-year extension to a contact to transport sand between eastern and northeast England.
GE Transportation has acquired ShipXpress, a cloud-based software solutions company which allows railways to operate efficiently with their supply chain partners.
TOKYO Metro plans to conduct a trial this autumn to transport parcels on part of the metro network in cooperation with freight forwarders Yamato Transport, Japan Post, and Sagawa Express.
ZSSK Cargo, Slovakia, transported 16.9 million tonnes of freight in the first six months of 2016, reaching operating revenues of €134.6m, recording an operating profit of €15.6m, and a total profit of €549,000.
AVES One announced on August 22 that it will acquire ERR Rail Rent Vermietungs and 33.3% of the shares in parent company European Rail Rent (ERR).
CANADIAN mining company KWG Resources announced on August 22 that it has signed a framework strategic cooperation agreement with China Railway First Survey and Design Institute Group (FSDI) to carry out a bankable feasibility study for a multi-user railway linking mines in northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire region to a junction with Canadian National’s (CN) Winnipeg - Nakina - Sudbury main line at Exton.
THE split up of Australian logistics and transport specialist Asciano, parent company of major rail freight operator Pacific National (PN), was initiated on August 19 following shareholder approval and signing off by the relevant regulatory authorities.
ZIMBABWE’s Ministry of Transport is trying to negotiate a partnership deal with Transnet, South Africa, while the government is in talks with the Development Bank of South Africa to help fund the rehabilitation of Zimbabwe’s 2583km rail network, although previous negotiations with the bank came to nothing.
WESTERN Australia track owner Brookfield Rail has announced on August 15 it will undertake all regular track maintenance activities over the state’s 5500km multi-user rail freight network, previously undertaken by John Holland.