Tag Archives: rail

Penalties for Canadian railways that do not ship enough grain

An article in the Wall Street Journal (March 7,2014) titled “Canada sets Minimum Grain Shipment Targets for Railways”, describes penalties of up to $90,000 if shipments by railways fall below 5,500 railcars a week. This target is significantly greater than … Continue reading

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High Speed trains and productivity impact in China

An article in the New York Times, on September 23,2013, titled “Speedy Trains Transform China”, (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/24/business/global/high-speed-train-system-is-huge-success-for-china.html?_r=0) describes the impact of the trains that travel 186 miles/hour and connect 100 cities. For individual textile manufacturers, the fast access to customers enables … Continue reading

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A deeper Jacksonville port to accommodate larger ships through the Panama Canal

An article in the New York Times (July 27, 2013) describes a move to increase the depth of the Jacksonville port from 40 to 47 inches, through dredging, to accommodate the larger ships that will be passing through the Panama … Continue reading

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Shipping HP computers by rail from China to the Netherlands

An article in the New York Times (July 21, 2013) describes Hewlett Packard’s shipment of computers, produced in Chongqing to Oostrum in the Netherlands. The trip takes 21 days, compared to 5 weeks by sea, and is cheaper than air … Continue reading

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Will any of the two proposed rail options or the new proposed canal option compete with the Panama Canal ?

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (July 1,2013) described a proposed Chinese-led plan to build a $40 billion canal in Nicaragua, linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. But two other rail options have been proposed too. A $10 billion Taiwanese proposal to … Continue reading

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Competition between railroads and pipeline operators to transport oil

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (June 17,2013) describes competition between a oil pipeline owner, Kinder Morgan, and railroads to transport oil from West Texas to Los Angeles. While pipeline operates demands long term contracts to cover their capital costs, railroads can … Continue reading

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Using the new Silk Road for trade with China’s interior plants

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (December 20, 2012) describes plans by Hewlett-Packard to ship notebook computers by rail to Europe – the new Silk railroad, at 1/3 the cost of air transit, double the cost of shipment by sea, but taking … Continue reading

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The Northern Distribution Network to Afghanistan

An article in the CNN.com site (http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/29/world/asia/afghanistan-military-railroad/index.html?hpt=hp_c1) describes a route for supplies of toiler paper, bottled water and socks to Afghanistan from the North.  One of these routes involves shipping to Riga in Latvia, moving on trains across Russia, crossing … Continue reading

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