photo: Archives/In just 8 months, more than 10,000 freight trains operated on the China-Europe route
The number of freight trains that operated on the China-Europe route in 2021 already reached the milestone of 10,000 trains at the end of August, according to the Chinese State Railway Group. The rapid growth in the number of freight trains on the China-Europe route means that there has been an increase of 32 percent compared to the same period last year, the company added. During that period, freight trains transported goods in about 964,000 containers 20 feet long, an increase of an additional 40 percent over the same period in 2020. So far, freight trains that operated on the China-Europe route, and which traveled along 73 routes, have arrived in more than 170 cities in 23 European countries.
New routes for Ukraine, Spain, and Germany
In the first half of 2021, 1,359 trains departed from Chongqing for Europe, with an annual increase of 50 percent. However, an increasing number of new routes are opening from China to various European countries. One new line includes a train carrying fifty containers, which travels from the Chinese city of Chongqing to the capital of Ukraine - Kyiv. This train started working on August 29. The train crosses the border with Inner Mongolia in Erenhot and is expected to arrive at its destination by mid-September. Until now, goods from Chungking (an important hub for transporting goods in southeast China) that were transported to Ukraine had to pass through Belarus or Poland. For Western Europe, a new route has been opened between Wuwei (in northwest China) and Hamburg, Germany. This route passes through Alatav port. The first trains transported goods worth 5.67 million dollars. At the end of August, another new route connected Hanoi, Zhengzhou, and Liege - officially opening the China-Vietnam-Belgium triangulation.
Finally, the news comes from Spain that the railway connection between Jivu and Madrid, which is considered to be the longest connection between China and Europe, increased the amount of transported goods by 110 percent during the coronavirus pandemic.