Multimodal operator, KTZ Express, a subsidiary of Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ), DB Schenker and air operator KLM launched a pilot project for the transport of the electronic equipment of Hewlett Packard from China to Europe, via Kazakhstan.
The significant reduction of travel time, smaller costs, efficient and safe services, these are the basic criteria to be considered by an operator for attracting new customers and preserve the existing ones. Over the past years, companies have tested and launched new solutions and services of transport and logistics on large distances. Projects on China-Europe routes have been most tested and regular services have been introduced once reliability has been proven. Such an example is the Yiwu (China) – Madrid (Spain) transport route, the railway service managing to deliver freight at half the time compared to sea-road or sea-railway transport: from 35-40 days to just 21 days by railway. Other China-Europe railway transport services have begun to develop significantly in the past 5 to 6 years: Wuhan – Czech Republic (Pardubice) – launched in 2012, with a travel time of 14 days; Chengdo – Poland (Lodz) – launched in 2013, with a travel time of 14 days; Zhengzhou – Germany (Hamburg) – launched in 2013 with a travel time of 17 days; Suzhou – Poland (Warsaw) – launched in 2013 with a travel time of 14 days.
Before services on the above-mentioned routes, in 2011, DB Schenker launched the Chongqing-Duisburg railway transport service, the operator focusing on the Eurasian Land Bridge as an alternative to the route for freight transport between the two continents. The companies’ interest in this service is increasing, a recent project on this route being announced by KTZ Express. Thus, the Kazakh operator, DB Schenker and KLM announced they implement a pilot project for the transport of the electronic equipment of Hewlett Packard, using this route to deliver freight in Europe from China via Kazakhstan.
The pilot project aims at using railway and air transport and the transport of the specialized containers for 45-foot climate control, recently bought by KTZ Express. The “Rail-Air” route uses the Chongqing-Duisburg container train and containers are loaded in the train to Almaty in the port of Dostyk (Kazakhstan). From here, freight is transferred to Almaty International Airport and taken over by KLM operator and shipped to Amsterdam. The route measures 9.900 km and the travel time is of 7 days, much smaller compared to the existing routes that use maritime and air transport, when the travel time is of 23 to 30 days. Due to the different advantages, this service could become a regular service this year, KTZ Express announced.
by Pamela Luică
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