Rail route to Europe improves freight transport(2)

"Economic cooperation and investments between China and Central Asian countries have developed very fast in recent years, which helps increase demand for better and faster logistics of those countries," said Sun Zhuangzhi, a researcher of Central Asian studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"Central Asian countries are all inland states, so railways are especially important for them, because the railway offers them better connectivity with the outside world, so that they can better take part in global economic cooperation," he said.

In addition, the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe railway allows those Central Asian countries to gain access to the ports of China as well as European countries, he said.

Challenges ahead

Despite its apparent success, the line faces a few challenges in the years ahead.

A steady stream of imports and exports is required to keep the Chongqing-Europe railway going, but there are currently few exports from European countries. Chongqing is trying to solve this by promoting the line to Europe, and there is no guarantee of success.

There is also some competition with other lines that provide similarly low-cost overland transport to Europe. A line linking Asia and Europe was launched in July, running from Zhengzhou, a business and logistics center in Central China, to Hamburg, Europe's second largest port.

The route reaches Germany via Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Poland, taking 18 days to cover the 10,214 km, more than twice as fast as by sea. It is also about 80 percent cheaper than air transport and significantly cheaper than going by road.

Like the line linking Chongqing and Duisburg, the Zhengzhou-Europe railway has to change gauges twice, a feat that is accomplished by crane.

The first transfer is a change to the Russian broad gauge line at the Alataw Pass on the border between China and Kazakhstan. The second is a transfer to standard gauge at the Poland-Belarus border.

The gauge transfer and technical service is provided by DB Schenker, the transport and logistics arm of Germany's national railway Deutsche Bahn, through its service network in Central Asia and Eastern Europe after the trains leave China.

The first freight train along this route had 41 containers, including 11 carrying vehicle parts, industrial yarn, high-end shoes and clothing on route to Hamburg, and a container of clothes destined for Rotterdam. The goods were valued at $2.33 million.