Rail

In August, when the Rhine Valley Railway was completely closed, the diesel shuttles on the left bank of the Rhine showed their best side. Around 20 freight trains per day travelled the route through Alsace thanks to an initiative organised using diesel locomotives on the non-electrified line Wörth-Lauterbourg-Strasbourg-Offenburg. This highlights the need to expand the tracks on the left bank of the Rhine in France to ensure the stability of combined transport on the north-south axis.

In January-August 2024, JSC NC Kazakhstan Temir Zholy transported more than 165.5 million tons of cargo. Exports amounted to 55.8 million tons, and the volume of domestic transportation increased by 1.2% compared to the same period last year and reached 109.7 million tons.

Polish Railways (PKP) and Swedish operator Green Cargo are negotiating the launch of a rail-ferry connection between Poland and Sweden. The initiative aims to develop multimodal transport in the North-South corridor across the Baltic Sea.

RCG is further developing its TransNET network with the addition of a new continuous route between Duisburg and Antwerp. The Duisburg–Antwerp transfer offers two weekly departures in each direction with a transit time of around 7.5 hours for wagon loads and containers.

Estonia is taking a significant step forward in implementing the large-scale Rail Baltica project. A contract has been signed for the construction of a unique section of the railway line, where part of the route will pass through a deep trench. This 9.2-kilometre section between the villages of Soodevahe and Kangru will be one of the most unusual on the entire route. Its construction will cost €70.8 million and will be carried out jointly by OÜ Verston and OÜ Järelpinge Inseneribüroo.

In Kazakhstan, JSC NC Kazakhstan Temir Zholy is completing several major infrastructure projects, which will result in the construction of over a thousand kilometers of railway tracks. One of the key projects is the reconstruction of the Dostyk-Moiynty line, along which second tracks of more than 800 kilometers are being built. By the end of the year, train traffic will begin on the Dostyk-Aktogay and Moiynty-Balkhash sections.

At the briefing, Salamat Abzhaliyev, Deputy Director General for Marketing and Planning at KTZ-Freight Transportation, noted that Kazakhstan continues to actively export grain and flour to China, Central Asian countries, Iran, Afghanistan and Turkey. Over the past three years, grain exports to China have increased 5.7 times, making it a key destination for Kazakhstani exports.

Danish logistics company DSV has won the bid to buy Schenker, the logistics arm of German state railway Deutsche Bahn. According to sources in the railway company and the German government, a preliminary contract worth around 14 billion euros will be signed in the coming days.

Rail Baltica, Europe’s largest railway project connecting Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to the European rail network, is one of six key megaprojects of the EU transport network. Other major projects include the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel between Germany and Denmark, and the Brenner Base Tunnel linking Austria and Italy across the Alps.

During the complete closure of the Rhine Valley Railway in August 2024, a diesel shuttle service on the left bank of the Rhine proved to be a successful alternative. Around 20 freight trains per day ran through Alsace on the non-electrified route Wörth-Lotherbourg-Strasbourg-Offenburg. The project, supported by SBB Cargo International, Captrain France, DB InfraGo and SNCF Reseau, helped maintain the stability of combined transport on the north-south axis despite capacity constraints at the transfer points.