More stops planned for China to Spain railway

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2015-06-25

The first Spain-China freight train arriving in Yiwu, Zhejiang, Feb. 22
 (File photo/Xinhua)

The longest freight train in the world, linking Yiwu in eastern China's Zhejiang province to Madrid, will stop in Warsaw, Berlin, Duisburg and Paris on a journey of over 13,000 kilometers set to begin June 28, reports Shanghai's China Business News.

The first freight train to link China directly with Spain passed through the western Chinese region of Xinjiang and on to Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany and France on its 21-day maiden journey in late 2014.

Since then, four trains have made the journey from China to Spain and two have traveled in the opposite direction, transporting 304 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) shipping containers.

There are direct freight trains linking cities in Europe with Chongqing and Chengdu in southwest China, Zhengzhou and Wuhan in central China, and Hefei and Suzhou in eastern China.

Some 76 freight trains traveled between China and Europe in 2013, and the number jumped to 227 in 2014, said the report.

Lin Beizhan, secretary-general of the International Land-Bridge Transportation Board, said that if the Yiwu-Madrid freight train were to be rerouted through Manzhouli in northeast China, Russia and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea, the transportation cost might be cheaper.

He made the statement in an international forum on the Silk Road Economic Belt in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, from June 18-19.

Feng Xubin, chairman of the freight train operator Tianmeng Investment Group, said if Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus can simplify their customs clearance procedures, the transportation time could be shorter and saving some cost.

Wu Jingyu, director of the Coordination Center-Landbridge Branch of China Communications and Transportation Association, said that in terms of transportation expense, the China Railway Group charges US$0.60 per kilometer for each shipping container, while Russian Railways charges US$0.30 and each European country has different charges.

Wu suggested that the current Yiwu-Madrid train could consider rerouting though Manzhouli and connecting to the Trans-Siberian railway to save costs.

If the cost of freight shipping could be reduced to US$0.50 per kilometer for each container and the journey time shortened to 10-12 days, the silk railway would be competitive with the cost of marine shipping, Wu added.

Some countries, including Kazakhstan and Poland, would like to promote more cooperation with China through the freight train.

The Yiwu-Madrid train is the longest rail route in the world, longer than Russia's famous Trans-Siberian railway linking Moscow with Vladivostok, an APF report said.

The journey time is more than 10 days shorter than if the goods are shipped by sea, according to Spain's Public Works Ministry as saying. China is the European Union's biggest source of imports, according to the AFP report.

Roughly 80% of global trade is carried by ship, however, as freight train services face several technical and bureaucratic hurdles.