With the first direct freight train from China to Vienna, the Rail Cargo Group (RCG) – freight transport division of ÖBB – successfully brought its next rail link between Asia and Europe on the rails. Launched by Chengdu and handled via the Northern Silk Road, the container train covered some 9,800 kilometers in 14 days and two hours.
With the participation of Federal President Alexander van der Bellen, Federal Minister for Digitalisation and Business Location Margarete Schramböck, and Chinese Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China Li Xiaosi and ÖBB CEO Andreas Matthä, the train was solemnly welcomed on April 27 at the Vienna South Freight Center.
The freight tran whis is approximately 600-meter-long and loaded with 44 containers started on April 12 in Chengdu – capital of the Chinese province of Sichuan with the largest railway hub in China -and crossed Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, Slovakia and Austria. The transhipment from broad to standard gauge took place at the Dobra terminal on the Ukrainian-Slovak border. Among other things, electronic components as well as lighting materials and household goods reached the Vienna South Freight Center on time. From here, the goods are finally transported to the final destination.
Due to the successful rail freight transport in just under 15 days from Chengdu to Vienna, they are confident that they will be able to handle further transports on this route in the future, thereby establishing the fourth regular China connection, said ÖBB CEO Andreas Matthä. To date, RCG operates permanent China connections between Changsha – Budapest and Chongqing – Duisburg with one round trip per week as well as Taiyuan – Lugo/Italy with ad hoc trains. In the current year between 400 and 600 trains are scheduled to run on these routes.
With the aim of further consolidating its rail network between Asia and Europe, RCG is continuously expanding its high-frequency intermodal network across European borders, thus accelerating the interconnection of trade routes between the two neighbouring continents. The rail link between the Chinese metropolis of Chengdu and Vienna is particularly in the focus of the freight railway, as most of the trains to Europe are handled from Chengdu.
Located on the Chinese Silk Road and the economic belt of the Yangtze River, the city, with its 14 million inhabitants, is an essential part of China’s free trade area and is expanding its position as an industrial center and hub for international trade and logistics. The transhipment of the Chengdu Railway Container Center currently amounts to around 2.8 million TEU. In the coming years, the capital of the Chinese province of Sichuan will continue to gain in importance as Chengdu is also strengthened as a domestic hub.
The entire Sichuan region shows continuous economic growth. Compared to 2016, gross domestic product and industrial production increased by more than 8 percent in 2017. Sichuan is a leader in producing TV equipment, steel, cement, chemical fibers, wine, as well as in the extraction of natural gas and the production of electricity.
www.oebb.at; www.railcargo.com
