The China-Europe Railway Express is witnessing a significant surge in operations, marking a new era in international freight transport. In the first half of 2024, a remarkable 7,746 train trips passed through Horgos Port and the Alataw Pass in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, reflecting an 8.2 percent increase year-on-year.
Horgos Port and the Alataw Pass are pivotal gateways, handling 40 percent of the China-Europe freight train trips. The growing volume of trains mirrors the expanding trade exchanges between China and Europe. Moreover, the variety of goods transported has broadened. While the trains once primarily carried daily necessities and ores, they now transport a diverse range of products, including large-scale equipment, automobiles, and lithium batteries.
The two ports in Xinjiang connect to Kazakhstan on the Western corridor of the China-Europe Railway Express route. Due to the difference in railway track gauges between China and Kazakhstan—China’s tracks are 85 millimeters wider—containers must be reloaded at the border stations. To enhance efficiency, railway workers from both countries have collaborated to streamline the container reloading process.
“Originally, it took us around 60 seconds to change one container. Now, it only takes about 40 seconds,” said Xie Shuyong, a gantry crane operator at Alataw Pass. “If each vehicle carries two containers, we can save about 40 minutes to load a train. Including other operations, it used to take about 2 hours and 10 minutes to complete the whole train change operation. Now it only takes an hour and a half.”
In addition, Xinjiang has initiated the construction of the “Digital Urumqi Railway,” enhancing container exchange capabilities. The adoption of paperless operations for information exchange between customs and railway departments has effectively streamlined procedures for freight trains.
“The station pre-reserves tracks in advance to ensure uninterrupted train arrivals and departures,” explained Yang Rui, the deputy director of the safety production command center at Alataw Pass. “The outbound train turnover speed continues to accelerate, reducing clearance times to within 5 hours. Inbound cargo information transfer processes have also been sped up by 4 hours.”
Since its launch in 2011, the China-Europe Railway Express has reached 223 cities in 25 European countries and connected more than 100 cities in 11 Asian countries. This expansion underscores the railway’s pivotal role in facilitating international trade and strengthening economic ties across continents.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
