At 9 o'clock on July 15, a designated train fully loaded with chemical raw materials, departed from the Xiangtan Electrochemical Railway Co., Ltd. special railway, heading for Guangdong Huangpu Port. From there, it will travel to Jakarta, Indonesia via maritime transport. This is the first rail-sea intermodal train launched in Xiangtan, which will further enhance Hunan's international freight train logistics network.

Previously, foreign trade goods exported from Xiangtan by rail must be transferred to Changsha, Zhuzhou, Yueyang, or Huaihua before being sent out through international trade corridors such as the China-Europe Freight Train Service, or the Hunan-Guangdong-Africa rail-sea intermodal transportation. The transportation process was cumbersome, inefficient, and costly. The newly-opened train service will enable foreign trade enterprises in Xiangtan to achieve "doorstep" delivery, customs clearance, and direct rail-sea intermodal train service to the destination.

Hunan railway authorities have tailor-made measures for each enterprise to guarantee the orderly operation of the train service. By leveraging the international freight train subsidy policy, they helped enterprises to reduce cargo transport costs by up to 48% at both ends. In order to enhance efficiency while reducing costs, the authorities have also drawn on the experiences from the currently operating international train services, such as the "China-Europe Freight Train Service" and the "Hunan-Guangdong-Africa rail-sea intermodal transportation". They have actively coordinated with local government departments, customs, and enterprises to match real-time transportation demand and accurately arrange transportation plan.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Yu Jiangjiang

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn