On June 30, 41 containers of export goods were assembled at the Huaihua International Land Port. At 1:40 a.m. on July 1, the fixed-schedule freight train, which has been included in the national train operation diagram, departed from Huaihua West Railway Station. It traveled southward to Qinzhou Port East Railway Station directly, from where the cargoes would be transhipped to Singapore, the United States, and Vietnam. 

This marks the first operation of the fixed-schedule freight train service from Huaihua West Railway Station to Qinzhou Port East Railway Station, signifying a new level of multimodal transport capacity at the Huaihua International Land Port.

This train carried 1,120 tonnes of goods in 41 containers, with a total value of 452,000 USD. The goods came from three locations across Hunan and Hubei provinces. The roll paper from Yueyang, metal structural frames from Changsha, and wood splints from Hubei were assembled in Huaihua for export to Singapore, the United States, and Vietnam respectively. Leveraging the fixed-schedule freight train service featuring fixed points, lines, times, and train numbers, the total en route transport time would be only 22 hours and 16 minutes, enabling next-day arrival at the port.

This highly-efficient logistics channel is further accelerating the overseas expansion of "Made in Huaihua" products. In the past, suitcase and bag exports took three days to reach the port as they had to be routed through Nansha and Yantian ports. At present, the fixed-schedule freight train service ensures next-day arrival at the port, significantly accelerating market access.

Meanwhile, the Huaihua International Land Port has pioneered a pre-positioning service for inland empty containers, stockpiling standard containers directly at local container yards. This allows companies to pick up containers right at their doorstep, enabling direct train loading after packing without changing containers en route. A Hunan bamboo company which started shipping through the land port in 2023, now dispatches dozens of containers monthly, with its products exported to Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, and beyond. A manager of the company said that the fixed-schedule train has reduced transport time from three to four days to only 22 hours, boosting efficiency by more than 50%.

The maiden trip of this fixed-schedule train service has laid a solid foundation for the rail-sea intermodal route connecting western Hunan to ASEAN via Huaihua. Data shows that as of June 28, the Huaihua International Land Port had dispatched 695 freight trains this year, with a total cargo value of approximately 4.9 billion CNY. The port is expected to operate over 700 freight train trips in the first half of the year.

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

Translator: Pang Yuehui

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn