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First direct China-London rail freight service launched

Posted: 4 January 2017 | | 2 comments

The first direct China-London rail freight service has launched and is due to arrive in the UK on the 18th January 2017.

First direct China-London rail freight service launched

The first direct China-London rail freight service has launched and is due to arrive in the UK on the 18th January 2017.

First direct China-London rail freight service launched

Announced by Brunel Project Cargo, provider of freight and logistics services, the China Railway freight train will travel 12,000 kilometres (over 7,400 miles) from Yiwu, in China’s Zheijiang province, to Barking in East London.

First China-London rail freight service to arrive in UK on 18 January

It is hoped the route will provide importers and exporters time and cost savings. According to Brunel Project Cargo, the cost of rail freight transport is potentially 50 percent less than current air freight transport, and transit time is nearly 50 percent shorter than sea freight transport. Furthermore, both declaration and inspection can be completed at once, with goods being released much quicker than air or sea freight.

Commonly known as the China Silk Road or the China Silk Route, the two key rail links providing the connection travel either due north from China, connecting with the Russian Trans-Siberian or head west  across Kazakhstan before feeding into the Trans-Siberian at Yekaterinburg, a key junction for rail freight movements going in a westerly direction.