So long snail, adieu sail, guten tag rail

As snail mail bites the dust and sail mail disappears into the sunset, there is something just as old-fashioned to hail: rail.

For those in Europe keen to get their hands on the latest laptop computer, that means not needing to wait a nanosecond longer than they need to.

The key to it all is a railway line linking Chongqing in Southwest China, to Duisburg, Germany, that opened in 2011.

"In exporting laptops to Europe, that link saves up to two weeks," says Ke Bin, president of Asus Chongqing. The sea voyage takes almost twice the time.

In most cases, manufacturers used to put the laptops on trucks bound for Shanghai or Tianjin, and they were then put on ships bound for Europe, taking about 25 days. Alternatively, they could be sent by air, adding considerably to the cost.

European buyers of many goods made in China, including computers, are now taking advantage of a logistics system in Chongqing that is growing more sophisticated by the day to get their goods from the factory floor to the shop as rapidly as possible.

In 2013, 48.7 million laptop computers were exported from Chongqing, a third of them to Europe.

Zhang Yonghong, president of Acer Greater China, sees the logistics system connecting the company's factory in Chongqing to the European supply chain as a huge benefit, but rail does not have to be a standalone solution. "A combination of ocean-railway shipments provides sufficient logistics support to customers with different needs."

By the end of last year, 94 journeys had been completed on the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe International Railway - 36 in 2013, 41 in 2012 and 17 in 2011. The total value of goods carried was $2 billion.

Tang Zongwei, deputy director of the administrative committee of Liangjiang New Zone in Chongqing, the only provincial-level municipality in China's west, says the bulk of the goods that the trains carry are laptops.

The rail link has raised collaboration between Chongqing, especially Liangjiang New Area, a vehicle manufacturing hub in the city, and Europe to a new level, Tang says.

For European countries, the railway has turned what used to be Chongqing's big disadvantage, its location, on its head, encouraging trade with Southwest China.

"This new land route connects Chongqing with the European Union, which is the largest single market in the world," says Gerold Amelung, German consul-general in Chengdu. "Germany, as China's most important trading partner in Europe, will greatly benefit from it."

Awareness needs to be raised in business circles in Europe to take advantage of the railway to encourage trade relations between Chongqing and Europe, he says.

At present the freight trains linking Chongqing and Duisburg travel through Poland but do not stop there, and the Polish government is looking at the possibility of getting that changed, says Boleslaw Kosciukiewicz, minister counselor of the Polish embassy in Beijing.

"Poland is very much interested in paving safe, secure and more efficient trade routes connecting trade partners in Europe and China," he says. Not only does the line save time and money but also helps to greatly reduce CO2 emissions, he says.

Last year, 233,547 laptops were exported to Poland, an increase of 13 percent year-on-year.