FELB plans to implement a weekly train departure for dangerous cargo from Duisburg to Asia, which will provide a transit time of 25 days for block-trains of more than 31 containers per departure. The same service will be available for the opposite direction, from Asia to Europe. The train will depart twice per month at first and then weekly with departures every Saturday. Currently the departures will be from Duisburg only with destinations to Dalian, Shanghai, Qingdao, Pusan, Shenzhen, Tokyo and Taipei, with more potential departure and destination locations in the future based on demand.
This May, the company has developed and tested an alternative transport system for dangerous cargo which ensures price and transit time performance. The first trials was based on two lots of purely dangerous cargo, (chemicals mainly class 4 and 6) sent from Duisburg terminal to Pusan and Taipei via the trans-Siberian railway. The 25 day transit time is due to the route going via the Vostochnyy port in the far east of Russia to avoid using Chinese railways for these banned cargo materials.
Although the container groups were less than a block-train volume, the total transit time was stable and attractive. Within less than 30 days, the containers arrived at their destination without facing any difficulties.
One of the most annoying limitations of rail transport in China is the restrictions regarding dangerous cargo and almost without exception, the transport of dangerous cargo by rail in China is forbidden and strictly controlled. This restricts a very important part of the industry from using the rail service for dangerous cargo, which already face problems with the other transport modes of sea and air freight. This is especially true for emerging markets such as in technology and automotive, which are often in need of this type of service for the transport of batteries or chemicals.
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