Railways News

Union Pacific Railroad announced several management changes in its Marketing and Sales Department.
Ed Sims has been appointed vice president-commercial strategy. In his new position, Sims will lead a cross-functional effort to refine Union Pacific’s manifest strategy, with a focus on business processes that align demand with capacity. Sims joined Union Pacific in 1983 and most recently was vice president and general manager-chemicals. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Emory and an MBA from the University of Arkansas.

The Department for Transport today confirmed that Silverlink's train franchise will be extended from 15 October 2006 to 11 November 2007. There will be an investment of £97 million in services.

A round table took place yesterday at Russian Railways’ subsidiary TransKontainer to discuss issues on freight transport with representatives from independent container operators. The focus of the meeting was forms of cooperation between TransKontainer and the independent operators and the results of freight transport in IH2006. It was the second round table since TransKontainer began operating on market principles as an independent subsidiary of Russian Railways on 1 July 2006.

Vladimir Yakunin (president of Russian Raiways) said that the Pendolino was designed for the high-speed line between Saint Petersburg and Helsinki and that traffic would be organised on the existing infrastructure, but that this would require diverting freight traffic and constructing a 42-kilometer stretch through the Priozersky district of Leningrad region to the Finnish border at a cost of 400 billion roubles (at current prices).

Vladimir Yakunin, the President of the Russian Railways, informed about it. It is planned to carry out IPO of the created “daughter” at the Russian stock exchange a year later after the creation of the company, and one and a half year later - abroad, most probably, as Vladimir Yakunin said, at London stock exchange.

“Russian Railways has spent over 20 billion roubles on safety in last three years,” said Pyotr Shanaitsa, head of the Traffic Safety and Environment Department during a two-day safety conference which began today.

Summarising the results of 1H2006, Shanaitsa noted that the measures implemented by the Company have improved the quality of the transport process and ensured the stability of rail traffic at a time when the volume of freight and passenger traffic is increasing. Crashes and derailments of passenger trains have been avoided, he said, while defects have been reduced by 7.9% since 2005.

Russian Railways expects state support from Russia’s Investment Fund to build freight branch lines as part of the high-speed passenger train project between St. Petersburg and Helsinki, according to Oleg Morozov, Vice-President of Russian Railways. Morozov rejected press reports that Russian Railways and Lukoil would build and finance the branch lines jointly, emphasising that the cooperation between the two companies in Russia’s North-Western region was on a completely different project, namely developing railway access lines to the distribution and shipping terminal Lukoil 2 on the island of Vysotsky in Leningrad oblast.

Perfectly on time, the first of Transport’s New PENDOLINO high-speed tilting trains left the Savigliano (Italy) workshop last week to begin testing on an international circuit in the Czech Republic.

In 2004-5, Russian Railways invested 203 million roubles in the port infrastructure of the distribution and re-shipment complex Lukoil 2 on the island of Vysotsky in Leningrad oblast, building 41 km of connecting routes and Pikhtovaya station and also electrifying parts of the lines.

AS VEGAS – The need to improve railroad security was once again a key topic here for delegates attending the BLET’s First Quadrennial Convention.  Yesterday, Teamsters General President James Hoffa addressed delegates regarding the need to boost railroad security in the current era of terrorist threats to the United States.

Russian Railways (RZD) and the Transport Ministry of the country sealed an understanding memorandum with German Siemens and Deutsсhe Bahn (DB) to cooperate in high-speed railway service. The experts say Siemens and DB may soon join the RZD project of high-speed railway, which is being revived.

FreightCar America, Inc. (Nasdaq:RAIL) announced  that Norfolk Southern Railway Company has committed to purchase 1,600 coal cars from the Chicago-based railcar manufacturer. The order is comprised of 400 AutoFlood III(TM) aluminum bottom discharge coal cars and 1,200 hybrid stainless steel/aluminum coal gondola cars. FreightCar America will begin delivery of the new order in the first quarter of 2007 from its Roanoke, VA railcar production facility, and will complete the order in calendar 2007.