Gefco organised the first full container train from China to France, covering the 11,000 km distance in less than three weeks. Traveling through seven countries along the Silk Road trade corridor, the train run at an average of 600 km per day.
The train transported 40ft containers from Wuhan, China, throught Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus, Poland and Germany, before arriving to Dourges Terminal in France, where the shipment was distributed directly to the plant of Française de Mécanique, a PSA subsidiary, in Douvrin, North of France.
The United Transport and Logistics Company (UTLC) provided services on the 1520 mm rail network between Dostyk (Kazakhstan) and Brest (Belarus).
Gefco managed and coordinated the project, with the railway partners in the different countries, together with the teams of Gefco Forwarding based in Shanghai, Moscow and Paris.
This first full container loaded train is part of the One-Belt-One-Road initiative introduced by the Chinese government to take advantage of the new Silk Road itinerary linking China to Europe. The link to France established with this shipment is an important improvement to better position France on the new Silk Road and bring shippers and consignees closer, as most routes of the new Silk Road had, until now, final destinations in Germany and Poland, Gefco says.
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