50,000th intermodal train leaves China for Europe

50,000th intermodal train leaves China for Europe

With increasing volumes of cargo being experienced on our LCL and FCL rail freight services between China and the UK, Davies Turner notes reports that as celebrations started for the Chinese New Year, the 50,000th China-Europe intermodal train embarked on its journey towards the west.

According to Xinhua News Agency, the departure of train X8086/5 from Chengdu Chengxiang station marked the magic number of 50,000 trains since the start of intermodal freight services on the route, which began around ten years ago, although in 2011, onlyl 17 such intermodal trains were recorded on the New Silk Road.

This number saw a big boost when in 2013 China’s President Xi Jinping officially launched the Belt and Road initiative, with the aim of increasing the connectivity between China and Europe.

Over the years, the figures more than doubled every year, and more and more cities were added to the Eurasian corridor. At present, the China-Europe train reaches 180 cities in 23 European countries. In 2021, the number of trains between Europe and China amounted to 15,000, a year-on-year increase of 22 per cent.

Whilst the service is developing well, it is not all about the quantity of trains. It is also very important that the quality of the service is also maintained.

This is especially true in the current situation, where the corridor is congested and delays are more frequent than in the years before. Bundling cargo to make better use of capacity, route expansion, as well as infrastructure upgrades are just some of the solutions at hand.

Davies Turner’s own dedicated weekly LCL Express China rail freight service is currently achieving an average 29 day transit time from departed Wuhan to arrival our UK depot and, originally launched in 2018, the operation remains the only direct weekly intermodal consolidation service between China and UK.

On departure from Wuhan, China, the rail service heads direct to Malaszewicze in Poland. Containers are then trucked under bond to Dunkerque for transport by ferry to Dover, then on-carried by truck (still secure in the same container) to Davies Turner’s regional distribution centres across the UK, where they are discharged, customs cleared and delivered to final destination.

For more information about our Express China rail freight service, please contact rail@daviesturner.co.uk or visit https://www.daviesturner.com/rail