(Photo: People.com.cn)
Freight trains between China's Yangtze River Delta (YRD) area and Central Europe rose more than 47 percent to 1,127 trips on a year-on-year basis in 2017, Shanghai Civil Engineering Co., Ltd of CREC told People's Daily.
A total of 1,072 trains bound for Europe from YRD, and 55 of them returned China with cargo in 2017. Since its launch in November 2014, the total number of intercontinental freight train trips has reached 2,742.
China’s freight rail across Eurasia was rebranded under “China Railway Express” for all Europe-bound trains, formally introduced on June 8, 2016 by the National Development and Reform Commission.
The first Shanghai to Moscow CR express was launched on December 1, 2017.
The routes of CR express. (File photo)
The China Railway Express owns 14 routes in total, covering 33 cities in 16 countries, including 15 cities in eight European countries and 18 cities in eight Central Asian countries: Russia, Belarus, Poland, Czech, Germany, Spain, Britain, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Iran and Azerbaijan.
The daily running mileage of China Railway Express’ freight trains reaches 1,300 kilometers, which enables trains to arrive in Europe within 12 days. The duration is one third of which necessary for ocean shipping.
Besides, the freight trains helped reduce more than 30 percent in cost, making it one fifth of that of the airlift.
Moreover, a growing diversity is seen in the import and export cargoes, ranging from textiles, autos and its accessories to machinery, furniture rather than petty commodities and electronic products as before.
File photo of the CR express.
To guarantee the smooth operation of CR expresses, several departments have cooperated to form a service chain to meet client demands.
Starting from the first freight train, CR expresses have developed from scratch into the so-called steely cafila that improves the construction of the Belt and Road initiative and regional economic development.
(Compiled by Chi Jingyi)