Freight train 79213 loaded with nearly 200 motorcycles set off from Guangdong's Foshan railway freight station at 11 a.m. on Jan. 26. This is the first freight train carrying motorcycles in the history of China for Spring Festival.
The freight train is set for the migrant workers who ride thousand miles home by motorcycles during the Spring Festival. The first train started Foshan of Guangdong province on Jan. 26 is expected to arrive at Guigang, Guangxi, on Jan. 27.
In recent years, some migrant workers in Guangdong from Guangxi, Hunan and Guizhou provinces braved the cold to ride a thousand miles back home, due to not being able to buy train tickets or needing to use motorcycles after returning home. The Guangzhou Railway Group specifically organized a freight train this year so that the motorcycles could also be taken home.
Lu Shangfeng, deputy director of the Guangzhou Foshan Railway Freight Center, said that organizing a freight train specially to carry motorcycles the first time in the history of railways in China. As the gasoline inside the motorcycles is flammable, all motorcycle fuel tanks have been emptied before the shipment. The train cars will be well ventilated at the same time. To ensure the safety of this novel consignment, the railway sector organized experts and technical staff to conduct feasibility studies and ultimately determine the loading reinforcement program. Before implementing the program, the railway sector has made three loading tests on five motorcycles.
