On November 28th, the X8086 China Europe freight train, loaded with 55 containers, departed from Chengdu International Railway Port and headed towards Malaszewicz, Poland. So far, the China Europe freight train has operated more than 120000 trains and sent goods worth over 490 billion US dollars.

As an important practical carrier for jointly building the "the Belt and Road" initiative, in recent years, China Europe Express has continued to weave a logistics network across the Eurasian continent. From the key node of the assembly center, to the railway trunk lines connected in series, and to the carriages loaded with goods, the China Europe Train is vividly interpreting the huge development potential released by the high-quality joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" and "land connectivity" with bursts of sirens and rolling wheels.

Further improvement in operational quality

On November 18th, the X8003 China Europe freight train, which implemented a full timetable, departed from Putian Station in Zhengzhou, China and headed to Hamburg, Germany, marking the official implementation of the fourth batch of China Europe freight train full timetable and further improving the quality of China Europe freight train operation.

At the 2nd China Europe Railway Express International Cooperation Forum held on the same day, the fourth batch of China Europe Railway Express full timetable was officially released, and the scale of China Europe Railway Express implementing full timetable was further expanded, with the annual number of trains running increasing to over 1000.

The so-called full timetable China Europe freight trains refer to trains that operate according to fixed train numbers, routes, schedules, as well as domestic and international departure stations, ports, and arrival times. Through the operation mode of "fixed-point, fixed line, timed, and fixed train numbers", they improve transportation efficiency and stability, and help enterprises reduce logistics costs.

According to Dong Hui, Deputy Director of the Freight Department of China Railway Group, in the past, when China Europe freight trains passed through various countries, there were problems such as uncertain running time and multiple invalid stops. After the full timetable train is launched, railway departments of various countries share information to ensure efficient port replacement and achieve precise operation of "passenger car". This innovative model has won market recognition and attracted a large number of high value-added goods sources.

At present, the China Europe freight train operates steadily with 17 trains per week, with an average travel time reduced by more than 30% compared to ordinary trains. The average value of goods per container has increased by 41% compared to ordinary China Europe freight trains, continuously empowering cooperation in various fields among countries along the route.

Zhang Xiaodong, Director of the Department of Logistics Engineering at the School of Transportation and Communications of Beijing Jiaotong University, stated in an interview with International Business Daily that traditional international intermodal transportation faces problems such as information barriers and operational disconnection, resulting in frequent ineffective stops and significant time fluctuations of China Europe freight trains on overseas segments. However, the full timetable mode achieves precise docking of cross-border transportation chains through unified planning, collaborative scheduling, and dynamic monitoring.

The average value of goods per container has increased by 41% compared to ordinary China Europe freight trains, indicating that China Europe freight trains have shifted from pursuing scale expansion to high-quality development, attracting more high-tech product customers who are sensitive to timeliness and safety. Zhang Xiaodong believes that the full timetable has strengthened the brand competitiveness of China Europe freight trains, not only providing reliable transportation guarantees for economic and trade cooperation along the route, but also contributing to the efficiency improvement of the global land transportation network as a "Chinese solution". In the future, international cooperation should continue to be strengthened, the layout of China Europe freight trains in the full timetable should be optimized, and regional economic integration should be promoted.

Dong Hui introduced that the entire operation time of the China Europe freight train, which implements a full timetable, has been significantly reduced. Next, China Railway Group will closely align with market demand, strengthen communication and cooperation with railway departments of countries along the route, leverage the operational role of its subsidiary China Railway Container Transport Co., Ltd., and further enhance the quality of China Europe freight train operations and international logistics brand competitiveness.

Accelerate the construction of the channel

On November 20th, a China Europe freight train loaded with 55 containers set off from the Erenhot railway port in Inner Mongolia, sounding its horn and heading towards Russia, marking a historic high of over 3500 trains in China Europe freight trains this year. With the continuous growth of cross-border transportation demand, the direction, quantity, and types of goods of the China Europe freight trains at the Erenhot railway port are all showing a continuous growth trend.

On December 5th, the X8422 China Europe freight train, loaded with mechanical equipment, cashmere, furniture and other goods, departed from Shijiazhuang International Land Port in Hebei Province. Since the beginning of this year, the Shijiazhuang China Europe freight train has operated over 1100 trains, becoming the first hub platform in the Beijing Tianjin Hebei region to operate over a thousand trains annually, further enhancing the attractiveness and competitiveness of Shijiazhuang International Land Port as a new highland for inland opening.

From the construction of China Europe freight train assembly centers in Zhengzhou, Chongqing, Chengdu, Xi'an, and Urumqi in 2020, to the addition of 9 centers at the beginning of this year, 14 China Europe freight train assembly centers have been established nationwide. These assembly centers, as key logistics hubs, undertake the core functions of cargo distribution, transshipment, and allocation, greatly improving the overall operational efficiency of trains.

Nowadays, the China Europe freight train has formed a pattern of parallel main roads in the east, center, and west, continuously expanding southward new paths such as crossing the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea, and seamlessly connecting with the Western Land Sea New Channel and the Yangtze River Golden Waterway, building a three-dimensional network of "multi-point, multi line, and multi-directional" channels.

At the same time, the types of goods carried by the China Europe freight train are continuously increasing, covering 53 categories and over 50000 types of goods. Among them, high value-added goods such as automobile parts, mechanical equipment, and electronic appliances have become the main commodities exported by China through the China Europe freight train; The categories of goods shipped from Europe to China also include mechanical and electrical products, precious metals, medical equipment, food, alcohol, etc.

"The continuous development of China EU trains reflects China's determination to continue to promote a high level of opening-up and the specific practice of building the the Belt and Road with high quality." Zhang Xiaodong said that China EU trains not only deliver goods, but also increasingly close economic and trade exchanges and connectivity development opportunities.

In recent years, China Railway Container Company, a subsidiary of China Railway Group, has established overseas subsidiaries in countries such as Kazakhstan and Germany to deepen cooperation and jointly explore two-way cargo sources. It is gratifying that the current balance of outbound and return operations of China Europe freight trains is basically balanced, and the comprehensive heavy container rate is basically stable at 100%, demonstrating strong market vitality and sustainable development capabilities.