Rail freight service linking Chongqing to Antwerp open for business

A RAIL freight service between the port of Chongqing and Antwerp is officially open for business, marking the realisation of the Eurasian Land Bridge, Xinhua reports.


Established in 2010 by POM Antwerp Development Authority, the Antwerp Port Authority and Belgian customs, the service - run by Swiss intermodal logistics provider Hupac and their Russian partner Russkaya Troyka and Eurasia Good Transport - will run over 10,000 kilometres (6,200 miles) from Chongqing through Mongolia, Russia, the Ukraine and Germany before reaching Antwerp.


Ocean transit between Chongqing takes 36 days compared to the rail journey of 20 to 25 days, which will be cut to 15 to 20 days once kinks are removed. Thus, it offers a logistics solution that is faster than ocean carriage and cheaper than air freight.


As the largest rail hub in western China, Chongqing has a rail freight terminal with an annual cargo capacity of about two million TEU into operation in 2009. The city opened freight services for the southern section of the Eurasian Land Bridge in 2010. The Eurasian Land Bridge passes Xinjiang's Alataw Pass and Kazakhstan, ends in Moscow, and the freight rail was extended to Germany's Duisburg via Poland in March 2011 before further expanding to Antwerp in May.


The Port of Antwerp is the second largest in Europe and handled 178 million tons in 2010. It is also Europe's second rail port providing 250 cargo trains per day, the report said.
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)