The China-Europe Railway Express is experiencing a remarkable surge in operations, with 7,746 train trips recorded through Xinjiang's Horgos Port and the Alataw Pass in the first half of 2024. This marks an impressive 8.2 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
Xinjiang's Horgos Port and the Alataw Pass are pivotal, managing 40 percent of all China-Europe freight train journeys. As the volume of these freight trains and trade exchanges continues to climb, the variety of goods transported has also expanded. Beyond daily necessities and ores, trains now carry large-scale equipment, automobiles, lithium batteries, and other high-demand products.
Located in Xinjiang, these two ports serve as key connectors to Kazakhstan within the Western corridor of the China-Europe Railway Express route. To address the 85-millimeter difference in standard gauge railway tracks between China and Kazakhstan, efficient container reloading at border stations has become essential. Railway workers from both China and Kazakhstan have introduced various measures to streamline this process.
\"Originally, it took us around 60 seconds to change one container. Now, it only uses about 40 seconds. If each vehicle carries two containers, we can save about 40 minutes to load a train. Including other operations, it used to take about 2 hours and 10 minutes to complete the whole train change operation. Now it only takes an hour and a half,\" explained Xie Shuyong, a gantry crane operator at Alataw Pass.
In addition to operational improvements, Xinjiang is advancing the \"Digital Urumqi Railway,\" which enhances container exchange capabilities. The adoption of paperless operations for information exchange between customs and railway departments has further streamlined freight train procedures.
Yang Rui, the deputy director of the safety production command center in Alataw Pass, highlighted the ongoing enhancements: \"The station pre-reserves tracks in advance to ensure uninterrupted train arrivals and departures. The outbound train turnover speed continues to accelerate, reducing clearance times to within 5 hours. Inbound cargo information transfer processes have also been sped up by 4 hours.\"
Since its inception in 2011, the China-Europe Railway Express has connected over 223 cities across 25 European countries and more than 100 cities in 11 Asian countries, playing a crucial role in global trade and economic integration.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com