Modernization facilitates China-Europe freight train services at China-Kazakhstan intl logistics base

A China-Europe freight train loaded with iron alloys from Kazakhstan arrived at the China-Kazakhstan International Logistics Base in Lianyungang city, east China's Jiangsu Province on April 26.

As the first facility built since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed, the logistics base has ensured smooth operations since it was inaugurated in July 2014. This has been inseparable from the base's intelligent dispatching center, dubbed as the "brain" of the base.

Cheng Fei, chief dispatcher of the logistics base, usually uses a smart command system to give loading instructions to drivers. He and his colleagues have seen thousands of China-Europe trains at the logistics base in Lianyungang city, which is ground zero of the eastern terminal of the New Eurasian Land Bridge, an international passageway linking the Pacific and the Atlantic.

As the smart command system continues to improve, Cheng has enjoyed the convenience brought by the modernization of the logistics base to his work. "Now, two workers can complete regular dispatches on a shift," Cheng said. A driver can operate three railroad cranes while reducing risks and improving efficiency.

Driven by policies, management and technologies, new models of the China-Europe freight train services, such as the land-sea-air transportation of containers and integrated customs clearance, have emerged at the logistics base, cutting the transit time of international containers from more than four days to less than a day, while reducing transport time by half. As of March 14, 2023, the logistics base had handled more than 5,000 China-Europe freight train trips.

So far, the logistics base has handled over 1.71 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of goods, and operated China-Europe freight train routes that include 104 international freight stations. The goods handled by the freight train services have expanded to include building materials, furniture, electronics equipment, grain, and minerals. The proportion of fully loaded containers carried by China-Europe freight trains almost reached 100 percent either way.

Thanks to its land-sea transport services, the Lianyungang Port handled 1.46 million TEUs of goods with a total weight of 76.35 million tonnes in the first quarter of the year, up 9.8 percent and 15.5 percent, respectively.