Russian Railways (RZD), together with United Transport and Logistics Company – Eurasian Railway Alliance (UTLC ERA) and the Port of Mukran(Sassnitz) in Germany, has implemened a new multimodal transportation project to deliver freight under a single CIM/SMGS document by container trains between China and Europe.
The first test train was dispatched on the Xian–Kalingrad-Hamburg route with 42 40fts carrying consumer goods, automotive parts and computer equipment.
On 12 November, containers from the 1520mm gauge flats were transferred to a feeder vessel at the container terminal in Baltiysk and shipped to Mukran/Sassnitz in Germany, for reloading onto standard gauge flats and onward distribution to Hamburg.
According to RZD, the freight was delivered from Xinzhu station in China to the port of Baltiysk in 8.5 days. The total transit time on the route in both directions will not exceed 14 days, it said.
“For the first time,” noted RZD, “the unified CIM/SMGS invoice will be valid not only in two legal regimes, but also on two modes of transport along the entire new Silk Road railway route.”
It is planned to operate four train pairs per week on this route.
