USA-Mexico: Binational Agreement reached to reconstruct the Desert Line Railroad
An agreement has been reached to pay for the reconstruction and operation of the 70-mile Desert Line railway in southeastern San Diego County that connects Mexico maquiladoras to rail shipping in the United States. The landmark agreement between Pacific Imperial Railroad (PIR) and Baja California Railroad (Baja Rail) provides a huge economic boost to both sides of the border.
The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS), San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, Pacific Imperial Railroad (PIR) and Baja California Railroad (Baja Rail) announced the contract on Thursday after the MTS Board of Directors approved the contract terms.
The San Diego region and U.S.-Mexico binational economies lose a staggering $6 billion annually due to long delays in getting trucks carrying freight – such as new automobiles – across the U.S. – Mexico land borders in San Diego, according to a study done by the San Diego Association of Governments. An operational Desert Line will ease congestion, reduce air pollution, promote commerce and create jobs.
“This is a historic win for the San Diego region,” said MTS Vice Chair Ron Roberts. “The Desert Line agreement achieves a significant commitment to binational economic improvements and cooperation rarely seen in San Diego. Additionally, 135,000 cars and 6,200 trucks idling at our land ports of entry each day negatively affect our air quality. An operational Desert Line will help reduce vehicle emissions at the border and help this region meet its emission reduction goal.”
Jerry Sanders, President & CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, has advocated for this partnership as a means to create jobs and to promote economic activity in the Cali-Baja region.
“The loss of productivity due to congestion at our ports of entry translates into more than 2,400 jobs or $131 million in lost economic activity,” Sanders said. “The Desert Line will provide a vital route that takes trucks off our freeways, increases shipping capacity and gets goods to marketplaces far more efficiently.”
Work on the 60 miles of track between Tecate and Coyote Wells in Imperial County is expected to begin this summer. It will be overseen by Baja Rail, which is incorporated in the United States and in Mexico. Baja Rail is a well-respected operator of the rail lines in Mexico that connect to the Desert Line.
“This joint project has been anticipated for a long time,” said Fernando Beltran, President of Baja Rail. “It will help our maquiladoras continue to thrive. It will help our economy. And it will stimulate a new cooperative business relationship between our two countries.”
Work on the line will include repaired bridges and tunnels and improvements to track. Once completed, it will allow trains up to 30 cars to travel on the line from Mexico to Coyote Wells. There, cars will be assembled into 100-car trains for delivery to the Union Pacific Railroad in Plaster City. To accommodate this activity, a new intermodal facility will be built in Coyote Wells by PIR.
“We have worked very hard with our partners in Mexico to realize this dream,” said Arturo Alemany, Executive Board Member for Pacific Imperial Railroad. “This is a joint effort that will create a new cost-effective option for international businesses to ship products, such as automobiles, from Mexico to the eastern United States.”
MTS has owned the Desert Line since 1979 and approved a lease agreement with PIR in 2012. On June 22, 2015, PIR and Baja Rail signed a Memorandum of Understanding outlining both parties’ intentions to reach a definitive agreement to create a binational railroad operation servicing the freight movement needs of Tijuana’s manufacturing sector. This was a major turning point in negotiations that have been ongoing since January 2013. Since that time, the two railroads have been conducting due diligence, financial feasibility analyses and negotiating an agreement to work cooperatively to restart freight railroad operations between Mexico and the Desert Line.
On June 2, 2016, these binational negotiations culminated in a sublease agreement between PIR and Baja Rail. The parties agreed that Baja Rail will oversee and pay for the railroad repair, maintenance and operational obligations for the first 60 miles of the Desert Line.
As the owner of the rail line, MTS retains oversight authority to ensure it complies with all of the construction, safety, maintenance and operational requirements for local, state and federal laws. MTS has hired RailPros to act as its expert consultant on this project.
(Source: Pacific Imperial RailRoad)
India: Dedicated Freight Corridor project to be given high priority
The Minister of Railways, Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu has said that the Dedicated Freight Corridor project, the largest infrastructure project in the country, is gaining momentum. Presenting the Railway Budget 2016-17 in Parliament in June 2016, he said it is proposed to take up the following freight corridors: North-South connecting Delhi to Chennai, East-West connecting Kharagpur to Mumbai & East Coast connecting Kharagpur to Vijayawada. He said, it is proposed to put these three projects on high priority to ensure structuring, award and implementation in a time-bound manner through innovative financing mechanisms including PPP. He said that before this financial year closes, almost all the contracts for civil engineering works would have been awarded. He said, since he assumed office, contracts worth Rs. 24,000 crore have been awarded against Rs 13,000 crore worth of contracts in the last six years.
The Minister said, given the emphasis on rapid expansion of freight business, it is essential to build more dedicated freight corridors for increased traffic with consequent benefits for the economy and environment.
(Source: Press Information Bureau, Government of India)
Russia: RZD Holding is developing new freight transportation services between Europe – China
The President of Russian Railways Oleg Belozerov addressed the conference “The Railway Business at Transit Speeds.”
The conference took place at the 16th China International Transportation and Logistic Expo, which was held in Shanghai in China on Tuesday 14 June 2016.
In his speech, the President of Russian Railways said that the primary task of transport was to meet the growing demand for transportation between Europe and Asia.
“Russia faces the acute question not only of developing the transport and logistics infrastructure in the country’s eastern regions, but also of creating optimal overland freight delivery transit routes. This requires, on the one hand, using our national territory as much as possible, and on the other taking advantage of the opportunities presented by the integration processes across the Eurasian space,” said Oleg Belozerov.
Russian Railways is thus actively involved in the integration of the Baikal-Amur Main Line and the Trans-Siberian in international transport corridors in order to enhance cooperation with international partners from Asia and Europe.
In 2015, the volume of traffic on the Trans-Siberian Railway was more than 113 million tons, which is 3.9% more than in 2014.
Container traffic volumes have also increased significantly. Since 2010, the volume of traffic has increased by 57% and amounted to almost 504,000 TEU containers.
Russian Railways is investing heavily in the creation of multimodal terminal complexes and transport and logistics centres and improving the technology and organisation of transit and international freight.
"We provide a number of services that allow shippers to deliver freight door-to-door on a regular and frequent basis. Two of our main products are “The Trans-Siberian in 7 days” and “The Baikal Shuttle.” "However, we need more of these kind of services and are therefore developing a completely new range of high-quality products which we will soon be ready to offer to our customers," said Oleg Belozerov.
Russian Railways, together with government agencies and international partners, is working on implementing common information technology and electronic document processing. The Company is also working to improve the quality of our services, including a strict compliance with delivery times, the security and integrity of goods and providing information support to the transportation process.
“At the Company, we are constantly engaged in developing competitive tariffs for transporting international and transit freight, taking into account the directions of freight flows on alternative routes. At the moment, tariffs for transit container shipments on fast trains via Russia’s Far Eastern ports to Europe are set at the lowest possible level. The discount is up to 60%, depending on the container size and the route,” said Oleg Belozerov.
In cooperation with its foreign partners, the RZD Holding is involved in the development of a direct rail link with China via the existing border crossings, with transit freight flows across Mongolia and the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union, namely Kazakhstan and Belarus.
In addition, the use of transport infrastructure around the Black Sea, which is now being actively upgraded, will facilitate the development of a route directly from China to the countries of Southern Europe.
(Source: RZD)
Kazakhstan: Wagon carrier will be built for Kazakhstan in Croatia
JSC NC Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) signed the contract in Zagreb with Croatian shipbuilding enterprise Uljanik for the construction of the wagon carrier.
The signing of the contract took place with the participation of the President of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic. The document was signed by the head of JSC NC Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) Askar Mamin and CEO of Uljanik Gianni Rossanda.
JSC NC Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) takes an active part in the implementation of the “Nurly Zhol” programme, aimed at further development of transit-transport potential, transport and logistics infrastructure in Kazakhstan.
Projects implemented by the Company contribute to increasing transit traffic through the territory of the country and the provision of multi-modal transportation of goods.
On the Caspian Sea an important project is being implemented to build the ferry complex in the port of Kuryk.
As Askar Mamin noted, “Currently with partners from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, China we are implementing measures to increase the freight traffic on the Trans-Caspian international transport corridor”. Development of this route will ensure the efficiency of logistics, growth in international trade. To do this we need modern ferries."
“Kazakhstan is an important part of the global market with great potential for mutually beneficial cooperation”, said the CEO of the Uljanik shipbuilding company Gianni Rossanda and noted that “the Croatian side will provide the supply of ferries and carry out the transfer of technology to further work in the field of shipbuilding.”
Ferry vessel for the transport of railway carriages in the Caspian Sea will be built at the oldest shipyard in Croatia.
(Source: KTZ)
Hungary: Participation of GYSEV in a new EU Rail Freight Corridor – the Ancient Amber Road may be back on the rails
On behalf of Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia and Poland, the Hungarian Ministry of National Development has submitted to the European Commission a Letter of Intent for the establishment of a new Amber Rail Freight Corridor (No. 11) with the aim of facilitating cross-border rail freight. The corridor links, inter alia, GYSEV’s intermodal terminal in Sopron with the Slovenian seaport of Koper, and with key terminals and industrial regions in Slovenia, Slovakia and Poland.
The Amber Rail Freight Corridor 11 is the first new EU Rail Freight Corridor to be established since the setting-up of the nine initial Rail Freight Corridors, which were defined in 2010 by EU Regulation 913/2010 concerning a European Rail Network for Competitive Freight.
The countries and railway infrastructure managers participating in the new corridor undertake to develop it as an integral part of the network of Rail Freight Corridors, for the benefit of freight train operators, rail logistics companies and shippers.
Regulation (EU) 913/2010 leaves room for the expansion of the existing Rail Freight Corridors, meaning that the Amber Corridor may be extended and enhanced by adding line extensions to further Member States in the future based on market demand and, of course, with the mutual consent of the respective Member States.
The GYSEV rail network is at the heart of this corridor, which links, inter alia, GYSEV’s intermodal terminal in Sopron with the Slovenian seaport of Koper, and with key terminals and industrial regions in Slovenia, Slovakia and Poland.
GYSEV CEO Mr Kövesdi stresses that: “The Amber Rail Freight Corridor 11 has strategic value for us and will help GYSEV strengthen its position on the north-south axis which, following investment to electrify the north-south line and ongoing and planned infrastructure upgrades on the GYSEV network, is becoming an increasingly attractive route for international north-south rail freight east of the Alps and for combined traffic services to and from our intermodal terminal in Sopron”.
On the east-west axis, GYSEV already participates in the Orient-East Med Rail Freight Corridor 7 and will also be part of the future Rhine-Danube Rail Freight Corridor 9. GYSEV Head of International Relations Mr Mosóczi explains: “Based on this experience, we have actively supported efforts to set up an EU Rail Freight Corridor on the north-south axis; with the signing of the Letter of Intent by the Ministries of all four Member States, we now see the fruits of our work and of our excellent cooperation with the Ministry and European Commission experts.”
GYSEV Cargo CEO Mr János Skala adds: “As a freight train operator and customer of the Rail Freight Corridors, we are familiar with all the challenges and hurdles cross-border rail freight is facing today. We very much welcome the establishment of the Amber Rail Freight Corridor to tackle these issues, and see it as an important instrument to develop and implement smooth and harmonised solutions for the provision and management of international rail freight capacity”.
GYSEV Cargo Business Development Director Mr Péter Schöberl very much welcomes the initiative, since GYSEV Cargo is currently putting increasing emphasis on a project which aims to develop connectivity between Poland and the Adriatic ports of Slovenia and Northern Italy via the hub of Sopron. He is convinced that the establishment of the new Amber Rail Freight Corridor will help to strengthen the competitiveness of rail and help shift long-distance traffic from road to rail.
(Source: GYSEV)
