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Title: Through train service, China to London Post by: grahame on January 03, 2017, 15:15:39 From CIPS ( https://www.cips.org/en-GB/supply-management/news/2017/january/freight-train-running-from-china-to-uk-is-a-first/ )
Quote The first freight train has set off from China to the UK on the reintroduced historic Silk Road trade route. The train, carrying household items, garments, textiles, bags and suitcases, will take around 18 days to travel more than 12,000km. The train, which left on New Year’s Day from Yiwu in eastern Zhejiang province, will pass through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France before arriving in London. BBC has it slightly different via http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38497997 Quote 'China freight train' in first trip to Barking and admits Because of the different railway gauges involved, a single train cannot travel the whole route and the containers need to be reloaded at various points. Title: Re: Through train service, China to London Post by: ChrisB on January 03, 2017, 15:21:40 Due in Barking on Sunday
Title: Re: Through train service, China to London Post by: Bmblbzzz on January 03, 2017, 21:56:01 I thought this rang a bell – but clearly I was remembering the service to Germany. I'm kind of surprised they're running this now, in fact, rather than a couple of months ago in time for Christmas. But still, anytime is a good time if it's train time.
As for the different gauges, I know that some passenger services between the former USSR and Poland use the same carriages, just lifting them up and changing the bogies; but perhaps this isn't possible with freight. I don't suppose it can be loading gauges, as the containers clearly can't change size! Title: Re: Through train service, China to London Post by: stuving on January 03, 2017, 22:21:28 As for the different gauges, I know that some passenger services between the former USSR and Poland use the same carriages, just lifting them up and changing the bogies; but perhaps this isn't possible with freight. I don't suppose it can be loading gauges, as the containers clearly can't change size! I imagine the point is that transferring containers a couple of metres sideways is easy and uses standard equipment. Swapping bogies requires some special machinery plus wagons designed for it, as well as suitable ownership for the route - probably a lot harder. Title: Re: Through train service, China to London Post by: Bmblbzzz on January 04, 2017, 11:21:20 Yeah, perhaps "just" lifting them up was not quite an appropriate word. And for historical reasons the relevant equipment is less likely to be available on the Chinese/Kazakh border.
Title: Re: Through train service, China to London Post by: Bmblbzzz on January 05, 2017, 12:49:12 I've just read about this in a Polish newspaper (the train passes through Poland but does not unload there). It confirms that the containers are switched to standard gauge wagons at a freight handling centre in Małaszewicze, just on the Polish side of the Poland-Belarus border. And it contains additional information: the train carries up to 200 containers (compared to 20,000 on a ship) and returns with European exports of alcohol, food and cars to China. China has invested about $40 bn in rail links to Europe.
Title: Re: Through train service, China to London Post by: grahame on August 03, 2018, 09:07:42 From The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/aug/01/germanys-china-city-duisburg-became-xi-jinping-gateway-europe)
Quote ... Every week, around 30 Chinese trains arrive at a vast terminal in Duisburg’s inland port, their containers either stuffed with clothes, toys and hi-tech electronics from Chongqing, Wuhan or Yiwu, or carrying German cars, Scottish whisky, French wine and textiles from Milan heading the other way. In Duisburg’s port, where train tracks run straight to the edge of the Rhine River, goods are loaded straight on to ships, stored for further dispatch in one of several football pitch-sized storage units, or sent on by train or truck to Greece, Spain or Britain. ... An experiment becoming a routine? Or is China <-> UK still at an experiment stage where China <-> has become routine? What future, where our trade links with Europe may be less, with our trade links with counties outside Europe taking a greater prominence in our economy. Title: Re: Through train service, China to London Post by: stuving on March 23, 2019, 20:43:43 I was puzzled to see "YIWU-London" on a train going through Reading yesterday. No picture - at the time the only remarkable thing was is that it went through P8, but that's just a bit unusual. It wasn't even on containers - these were hoppers (it was train 15887929 (H34149) 462Y 1456 Acton T.C. to Moreton-on-lugg (Tarmac)). Presumably just painted up to mark the event two years ago.
Title: Re: Through train service, China to London Post by: stuving on May 24, 2021, 19:50:08 I've just seen a report that traffic has built up to two trains per day (at least from Chine to Europe). The example shown was 50 containers, but is that as many as they can manage? Apparently it is, and it's a lot longer than here (or in most of Europe), but I'd have thought for this route bigger trains were quite feasible if they are needed.
So it has grown, but still to no more than a Maersk dinghy. There's a web site (https://www.sino-shipping.com/rail-freight-china/#Characteristics_of_railway_freight) if you think you might be a customer for the service. This page is printed from the "Coffee Shop" forum at http://gwr.passenger.chat which is provided by a customer of Great Western Railway. Views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that content provided contravenes our posting rules ( see http://railcustomer.info/1761 ). The forum is hosted by Well House Consultants - http://www.wellho.net |