The port of Mukran, in Germany, Russian Railways and UTLC ERA are implementing a new multimodal transport project to deliver freight under a single CIM/SMGS document by container trains on the China – Europe – China route. It is planned to organise multimodal transport services on a single CIM/SMGS invoice on a permanent basis.
The first test train was dispatched on the Xian – Kalingrad – Hamburg route with 42 forty-foot containers or 84 TEUs, carrying consumer goods, automotive parts and computer equipment.
On 12 November 2019, containers from the 1520 mm gauge track platforms were transshipped to feeder vessels at the container terminal in Baltiysk. From there, the feeder vessels will deliver the freight to the railway port terminal Mukran/Sassnitz in Germany, where they will be reloaded onto wagons designed for transport services on the European gauge lines.
The freight was delivered from Xinzhu station in China to the port of Baltiysk in 8.5 days. The total transit time on the route in both directions will not exceed 14 days.
For the first time, the unified CIM/SMGS invoice will be valid not only in two legal regimes, but also on two modes of transport, along the entire new Silk Road railway route, which is followed by container trains.
The single CSIM/SMGS transport document is valid in the legal transport regimes of China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Europe, which makes it impossible to reissue the invoice while the train is on the route. This in turn prevents the possibility of errors arising when documents are reissued and in addition optimises transport costs, technology and delivery times.
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