The Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands has accepted its first freight railed from China, with a locomotive arriving at the port’s Rail Service Center in the evening on July 23.
The train, carrying 80 containers, departed from Kunming, in China’s Yunnan province, on July 5.
It passed through the China-Russia border at Zabaykalsk, continued through Belarus, then crossed over to Poland at Brest.
Just after crossing into Poland, the train reached Malaszewicze, where the units destined for Rotterdam were loaded onto wagons built for a European track gauge.
Shuttle operator Cargosped and transport company PKP Cargo drove the train throughout Europe, and Rotterdam Rail Feeding placed it into the Rail Service Center on July 23 – 18 days after its cargo left Kunming, China.
Cargosped has indicated that this is not a one-off operation, saying more trains will be coming to the Rotterdam with Chinese cargo in August and September.
The Port of Rotterdam was the world’s busiest port for 40 years, until 2002. It’s still the eleventh-largest in terms of container throughput, and is one of the key trade hubs of Europe.
But trade between Rotterdam and some of the megaports of Asia – Singapore, Shanghai and Hong Kong, to name a few – relies on some of the longest regular shipping routes in the world. This is despite mainland Europe and Asia being part of the same landmass.
China in 2014 announced it would set up a US$40 billion ‘Silk Road Fund’, for infrastructure projects to boost connectivity across Asia. While China was focused on Asian connectivity with its announcement, it was thought at the time that stronger infrastructure spanning across Asia could have knock-on effects in terms of Asia’s connectivity with Europe.
“Rotterdam is glad that the Chinese trains are now also arriving in Rotterdam,” the Port of Rotterdam said in July.
“This ‘new silk road’ is significant for the further development of Rotterdam as a European logistical hub for all kinds of modalities and for the Rotterdam rail product in particular.
“Rotterdam is expressly investing in the improvement of rail transport to and from the port of Rotterdam. Equally, with regard to transport to and from England this could mean extra cargo.”