THE first container train travelling between China and the UK has arrived at Barking in east London after making a 12,000km journey across Asia and Europe before arriving in Britain via the Channel Tunnel.
The train, carrying textiles and other consumer goods, was operated by the InterRail Group on behalf of China Railway subsidiary CRIMT, and DB Cargo was responsible for working the final section from Duisberg to London.
The starting point was Yiwu in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang. The train has reached London around 18 days later, making it twice as fast as transport by sea.
Britain is the latest destination added to the China–Europe rail link, which is initially being operated as a test train, and London is one more international connection for the InterRail Group, along with Duisburg, Madrid, Afghanistan and Riga, on the "One Belt – One Road" corridor, an initiative of the Chinese government.
DB has collaborated with its partners since 2011 to operate weekly container trains on the world's longest railway which connects, among other cities, Duisburg, Hamburg, Wuhan, Chongqing, Harbin and the Chinese province of Hefei.
DB said a 'record number of containers', around 40,000, were transported by train along the legendary Silk Road in 2016. The volume is expected to increase to some 100,000 containers by 2020.
The service is used in particular by customers with time-sensitive commodities, including special promotional clothing items and capital-intensive goods, such as automotive parts and electronics.