Train cuts time for Europe freight deliveries
Debut service from Zhengzhou may take up to 18 days to reach Hamburg, but it beats sea routes
The first freight train from Henan province to Europe started its journey yesterday on a route that offers an alternative to slower and riskier sea freight.
The train left Zhengzhou, capital of the province in central China, and will cross the border at the Alataw Pass in Xinjiang before passing through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Poland on its way to Hamburg, Germany.
It will take the train 16-18 days to cover the 10,214 kilometres, saving about 20 days compared with moving the cargo by sea.
"China has been constructing cross-border rail lines in recent years, which is important both economically and strategically," said Wang Mengshu, an expert in railways and tunnels at the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
He said the country still relied heavily on sea freight in its trade with Europe. Land transport allows traders to avoid passing through the pirate-plagued Gulf of Aden and the Strait of Malacca, where the political situation is complicated, Wang said.
Over the past three years, several mainland cities, including Chongqing, Chengdu in Sichuan, Wuhan in Hubei and Shenyang in Liaoning, launched rail freight services to Europe.