Japanese company Nippon Express seeks to capitalize on China’s Belt and Road Initiative to offer speedy, low-cost transport of auto parts and other cargo between Japan and Europe via trans-Eurasia trains.
Nippon Express currently offers either air or marine shipment of cargo between Japan and Europe but starting from this spring, it will add a service combining air or marine shipment between Japan and China with train transport between China and Europe for moving goods from Japan to Europe and vice versa.
This new business will use regularly scheduled cargo trains out of Shanghai, Wuhan and elsewhere in China, as well as European towns such as Hamburg and Duisburg in Germany. Shipments from Japan will go to the port or airport closest to a Chinese train station. Following train transport to Europe, the cargo will be trucked to its final destination.
The new rail service will shorten journey times by 20-30 days. Sea-train service will slash costs by 50-60% compared with air-only shipping, and the air-train combination will save 30-40%.
Nippon Express sees the new service as an attractive option for transporting autoparts and electrical equipment components, among other items. It initially targets 20 large-container shipments a month.
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