The first container train travelling between China and the UK is arriving at DB Cargo UK’s London Eurohub terminal in Barking today – proving that it’s twice as fast as cargo transportation by sea after completing the 12,000 kilometre journey in 18 days.
The UK is the latest international connection added to the China–Europe rail link in the “One Belt – One Road” corridor, an initiative of the Chinese government being hailed as the new Silk Road, which also includes stops at Duisburg, Madrid, Afghanistan and Riga.
The train started its journey in Yiwu, the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang, and loaded the approved Channel Tunnel containers at Deutsche Bahn’s platforms at the Duisburg terminal in Germany.
China Railway Express makes small item freight delivery from Yiwu to #London https://t.co/frVRDn7FaQ pic.twitter.com/fn348bD8LW
— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) January 3, 2017
The train is operated by the InterRail Group, a multinational transport operator headquartered in Switzerland, on behalf of China Railway subsidiary CRIMT. DB Cargo is responsible for handling the Duisburg to London leg of the journey which passes through the Channel Tunnel. Its cargo includes textiles and other consumer goods and containers have to be unloaded and reloaded multiple times due to changes of gauge.
DB has collaborated with partners since 2011 to operate weekly container trains on the world's longest rail line, which includes connections at the cities of Duisburg and Hamburg to Wuhan, Chongqing and Harbin.
