China-Europe rail link tests a success
A few weeks ago I linked to an article about Deutsche Bahn’s ambitious project to link China via rail that involved transit and cooperation with five different countries. The goal, of course, was to shorten average cargo transit time by roughly 40 days down to 18 between Beijing and Hamburg. At the time, the first test train had already departed Beijing.
So far, so good, according to this article from Air Cargo News, which states that the first test trains completed the journey in 15 days:
Project ‘Land Bridge,’ departed Beijing early January and travelled 10,000 km, through four countries, encountering numerous sized rail tracks, border bureaucracy and harsh weather, to arrive 15 days later on 24 January in Hamburg.
Whether or not the service can perform this reliably on a regular basis, against all these obstacles, is too early to say. However, the express arrival of the fourth container train, full of shoes and garments for Europe’s consumer markets, following a mammoth journey from Beijing across Mongolia, Siberia, Belarus and Poland, went some way in assuring supporters.
Interestingly enough, Air Cargo News article struck a bit of an alarmist tone as people are beginning to realize the impact this would have not only on containerized sea freight volumes but also air freight volumes:
Related Posts:Forget the increasing sea freight threat, if DB’s newly devised concept gets the green light, it could shatter air cargo volumes between the Far East and western Europe, say airfreight experts, not to mention ocean-air routes via Dubai.
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