Recently, the X8020 China Europe freight train, loaded with 110 TEUs of exported goods, departed from the railway Yiwuxi Station and headed to Madrid, Spain, marking the opening of China's 10000th China Europe freight train in 2023.

The train connects the golden channel

The transportation capacity continues to improve, supporting industrial upgrading and development. On July 20th, as the whistle sounded, two China Europe express trains (Chongqing New Europe), loaded with 330 complete vehicles, slowly departed from the Tuanjie Village station.

According to the head of the marketing department of Yuxin Europe Company, in the first half of the year, the total number of vehicles exported by taking the China Europe Express (Yuxin Europe) exceeded 38000, a year-on-year increase of 98.9 times.

In order to better serve the export demand of vehicle enterprises, Yuxin Ou Company continues to promote the normalization of international intermodal transportation of commercial vehicles and railway transport special vehicles (JSQ vehicles) online, where cars can be directly driven into the train's "belly". Compared to traditional container models, a JSQ train can carry 261 complete vehicles, increasing the transportation capacity of each train by more than 58% and reducing costs by 20%.

According to data released by China National Railway Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "China Railway Group"), the sales of new energy vehicles in China reached 3.747 million in the first half of 2023; The railway department transports over 475000 vehicles, adding "iron power" to the rapid development of the new energy vehicle industry.

The service network continues to extend, and the radiation effect is becoming increasingly prominent. Overlooking the Ganzhou International Land Port in Jiangxi from a high altitude, batches of wood are connected in a neat and orderly manner, waiting for loading and transportation. The continuous railways extend in all directions, and the "steel camel caravan" flows endlessly.

After the official opening of the China Europe train at Ganzhou International Land Port, the local area broke through the barriers of mountains and accelerated the pace of integration into the world. Among them, the furniture industry cluster in Nankang has developed rapidly, with its output value increasing from 10 billion yuan before the construction of the port to 250 billion yuan by 2022.

As of the end of June, more than 110 domestic departure cities have reached 216 cities in 25 European countries through the China Europe Express, injecting a continuous stream of vitality into economic and trade exchanges.

Customized special trains continue to be opened up, and the variety of goods is constantly enriched. On August 7th, a China Europe express (Qilu) cold chain express train was shipped through the Alashankou port in Xinjiang, and is expected to arrive at the terminal station in about 19 days.

According to Gao Yitian, Deputy Station Manager of Jiaozhou Station at Qingdao Depot of China Railway Jinan Bureau Group Company, compared to highway cold chain transportation, the China Europe freight train cold chain transportation has a larger volume, longer distance, and more guaranteed efficiency.

According to the data of China Railway Group, the cold chain transportation of China Europe regular trains can not only ship economic crops such as lychees, longans, bananas, pitaya, but also beauty products such as facial mask and lipstick to Europe quickly.

Continuously improving infrastructure

Upgrade hardware facilities to improve work efficiency. As the only port on the central route of China Europe trains, this year, the Erenhot Railway Port in Inner Mongolia has undergone a major hardware upgrade: the number of wide standard gauge connecting and departing train lines has increased to 30.

The Chinese railway adopts international standard gauge, while the Mongolian railway adopts wide gauge. Therefore, after the train arrives at the port, it needs to be reloaded. "Yun Zhijun, director of the Erenhot Railway Port Dispatching Workshop, introduced that reloading refers to using a gantry to lift the container onto a train on another track. After the addition of wide gauge connecting and departing train routes, 15 trains can be loaded simultaneously, greatly improving the efficiency of port operations by 20%.

This year, Xi'an International Port Station has achieved another upgrade: the number of cargo loading and unloading routes has increased from 19 to 29, and 12 cargo lines have been renovated to have direct departure function, increasing loading and unloading capacity by 30%. At this point, Xi'an International Port Station has successfully risen to a world-class inland port, with a designed annual container throughput of 5.4 million TEUs and an annual railway freight volume of 66 million tons.

Strengthen hub construction and increase network density. On March 4th, the China Europe Express (Shenyang) assembly center was officially put into operation. Since the start of construction on October 8, 2022, an additional investment of 52.8 million yuan has been made to build an 80000 square meter customs special supervision area and other facilities. Currently, this area has become the largest gathering center for China Europe trains in Northeast China.

It's really hassle free to ship at the assembly center. The 'railway+customs' operation model not only comprehensively improves customs clearance efficiency, but also greatly shortens the distance of short distance connecting transportation, significantly reducing overall transportation costs.

According to data from China Railway Group, as of now, there are 86 China Europe trains operating at a speed of 120 kilometers per hour in China, with 6 ports, forming three major channels: east, middle, and west.Editor/Ma Xue