Re-nationalisation is intended to give new impetus to British railways
In 1814, the English railway pioneer George Stephenson constructed his first locomotive. It was a locomotive designed for coal transport, named after the Prussian general von Blücher. From Great Britain, the 1435 mm gauge spread throughout Western and Central Europe and large parts of the world outside Europe. But the privatisation of the state railway British Railways in 1994 brought ever greater problems to the once innovative British railway system. Now the railways are being nationalised again. We report on this in detail in a portrait of the British railways in issue 3-4/2024 of CARGO FREIGHT JOURNAL (cover on the left).
2025: Difficult year for rail freight transport
The new year 2025, which is slowly getting underway, will once again be challenging for the rail freight transport industry.In France, the state-owned freight transport company SNCF is being largely privatised.The state-owned DB Cargo in Germany is facing staff layoffs.Problems with the inadequate rail infrastructure are hampering rail transport in several European countries.
German freight railways are demanding a reorganisation of the track booking process
The network of non-federally owned freight railways in Germany NEE has accused the administrator of the federal railway infrastructure, Deutsche Bahn Netz, of performing an “emergency stop on rail network framework agreements”. The German federal government and the Bundestag should now “seize the opportunity to implement the Deutschlandtakt concept properly”.
NEE: Invest even more in rail because of the Ukraine war and climate protection!
This Wednesday, March 16, 2022, Germany’s Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) intends to approve the federal government’s draft budget for the current 2022 financial year. Due to the Ukraine war, it is to be expected that there will be a supplementary budget at a later date. Despite all the problems with Corona and the consequences of the war, the network of European railways NEE appeals: The financing of rail projects must continue right now!
NEE: With “coalition bingo” to more rail freight traffic
In recent months, the network of European railways NEE has sent angry letters of complaint to politicians in order to achieve improvements in rail freight transport. Now there is a new strategy: play!