Experiences from the 90,000th China-Europe Freight Train Journey
On May 25, under the bright blue sky, the China-Europe freight train was fully prepared to depart. At 8:40 a.m., with a sound of the whistle, the 90,000th China-Europe freight train X8157 officially set off, heading towards Europe.
Marking the 90,000th train, the total mileage of China-Europe freight trains has exceeded 700 million kilometers, connecting 122 cities within China and linking more than 100 cities in 11 Asian countries and 223 cities in 25 European countries. They have transported over 8.7 million standard containers with a total cargo value exceeding 380 billion USD.
Traversing Asia and Europe, the flow is ceaseless. From the multiple processes involved in the operation of the 90,000th China-Europe freight train, one can feel the strength and charm of this “iron camel team.”
Location: Xi’an International Port Station
Process: Assembling Cargo**
“Businesses from distant countries like Japan and South Korea, as well as neighboring enterprises, all send their goods through the China-Europe freight train.”
Xi’an International Port Station is the busiest station for China-Europe freight trains. In 2023, over 5,000 trains departed from this station.
Driving into the port station, one can see a vast area equivalent to over 500 football fields filled with colorful containers. Trucks line up at the port gate waiting to load and unload goods; further in the distance, cars awaiting shipment are arrayed in a grand formation.
“The goods on the X8157 train are assembled here,” said Shao Boer, general manager of Xi’an International Inland Port Multimodal Transport Co., Ltd., the organizing unit for the cargo of the 90,000th China-Europe freight train, with pride.
Shao Boer opened the cargo list for the train, showing goods sourced locally from Shaanxi as well as from Shanghai, Guangzhou, Yiwu, and other cities, transported to Xi’an by rail or road. “These are all our pre-arranged customers.”
He introduced that the China-Europe freight trains are fast, efficient, cost-effective, and highly stable, with a transportation time approximately one-third that of sea transport and costs only one-eighth to one-sixth that of air transport.
Especially since July 2023, the Xi’an International Port Station has launched a regular round-trip schedule for the “two outbound and one return” service, reducing the running time by over 30% compared to regular trains, further enhancing its attractiveness.
“The 90,000th China-Europe freight train is a public train running from Xi’an to Malaszewicze, Poland, with a fixed departure time and stable running time, making it the ‘golden route’ from Xi’an to Europe,” Shao Boer said. “Businesses from distant countries like Japan and South Korea, as well as neighboring enterprises, all send their goods through the China-Europe freight train.”
Reflecting on more than ten years of development of the China-Europe freight train, Shao Boer has deep feelings: initially, the goods were mostly clothing, furniture, and household appliances, but now high-value-added products like traffic signal equipment and ship structural components account for about 50%. The 90,000th train carries goods such as aluminum battery raw materials, auto parts, and LCD panels.
Data shows that the annual transport value of China-Europe freight trains increased from 8 billion USD in 2016 to 56.7 billion USD in 2023, with the variety of goods expanding to over 53 categories and more than 50,000 types. Currently, the comprehensive load rate of China-Europe freight trains is stable at 100%.
Location: Xi’an International Port Station
Process: Train Formation
“Nowadays, an average of one China-Europe freight train departs or arrives every 100 minutes.”
At Xi’an International Port Station, the cargo has been assembled; meanwhile, the train preparation work proceeds in an orderly manner.
Zhao Xinping, a China-Europe freight train “vehicle selector.”
What does “vehicle selector” mean? It turns out the train cars are reused in cycles. Given the long operating distances of China-Europe freight trains, high standards are required for the vehicles. Staff must select empty cars that meet international transport standards, can run at speeds of 120 km/h, and are in good condition without faults.
As a wagon inspector at Xi’an East Vehicle Section, Zhao Xinping’s daily job involves using a handheld device to conduct checks on the train while bending down to inspect the technical condition of the train. “I feel a great sense of achievement knowing that the export goods of our country are safely delivered abroad on the trains I have selected,” Zhao Xinping said.
Yao Liang, a China-Europe freight train “assembler.”
Leading the train, pushing, disconnecting vehicle hoses, uncoupling, preventing the train from rolling… Under the scorching sun, Yao Liang climbs up and down the train ladders, assembling the cars selected by Zhao Xinping’s team one by one like an “assembler.”
Yuan Jiajing, a China-Europe freight train “crane operator.”
Climbing up the six rotating steps to a height of 20 meters, Yuan Jiajing enters her “office.” Hooking, hovering, locking… Under Yuan Jiajing’s control, the gantry crane slowly lowers its massive yellow “claw,” precisely gripping the corners of the containers and successfully transferring them to the train cars. The entire process takes less than two minutes. Repeating this operation, within an hour, the 90,000th China-Europe freight train is fully loaded with goods.
“Nowadays, an average of one China-Europe freight train departs or arrives every 100 minutes, which requires our work to be fast and accurate,” Yuan Jiajing said, noting that she sometimes has to load over 100 containers in a day.
At 8:40 a.m., the X8157 China-Europe freight train (Xi’an to Malaszewicze) officially departed, beginning its “Journey to the West.”
Location: Horgos Railway Port Station
Process: Issuing “Passports”
“This train took only 38 minutes from customs receipt to release.”
After three days of travel, passing through Lanzhou in Gansu Province and Urumqi in Xinjiang, on May 28, the X8157 China-Europe freight train arrived at Horgos Railway Port Station.
Just as people need passports, visas, and security checks to go abroad, the China-Europe freight train also needs a pass and inspection to exit the country. At Horgos Railway Port Station, the X8157 train would apply for its “passport.”
Before the train arrived, Bai Hanguo, the chief clerk of the International Intermodal Department of China Railway Container Corporation Urumqi Branch, had already contacted customs broker Yang Haisheng. Yang Haisheng had prepared the transit documents in advance to ensure the smooth exit of the train. “This train took only 38 minutes from customs receipt to release.”
Behind the minute-level customs clearance is the construction of a digital port.
Relying on the 95306 system and the “digital port” system, information about the X8157 train, including the train, cargo, shipper, and consignee, is transmitted in real time to customs, port stations, agency companies, and foreign railway companies, automatically completing customs declarations.
“In this way, once the train arrives at the port, as long as the information matches, customs can immediately release it,” Yang Haisheng said. Previously, completing customs declarations required multiple visits, but now most processes need only one trip or can even be handled online.
Moreover, customs have extended their working hours. Previously, if the train arrived at night, an inspection appointment was needed in advance; now, customs operates 24/7, ready to inspect trains regardless of arrival time.
Bai Hanguo also keeps an eye on the train’s status. “If we find that the train has stayed at the port for more than four hours, we quickly contact the staff to find out the reason for the delay and coordinate with the station to resolve it.”
Soon, the X8157 China-Europe freight train received its “passport” – a brown paper bag recording the train’s departure, destination, cargo, and “identity number.”
At Horgos Port, for each China-Europe freight train entering or leaving the country, the railway departments of China and Kazakhstan exchange related documents, which are stored in document bags. From 100 daily document bags to now 800, nearly 300,000 document bags are stored in the document repository, making it one of the “archives” of China-Europe freight trains.
Location: Horgos Railway Port Station
Process: Transshipment for Departure
“The transshipment time for each China-Europe freight train has been reduced from 3 hours to just over 1 hour.”
With its “passport” in hand, the China-Europe freight train needs one more crucial step to exit the country – transshipment.
Entering the cargo yard of Horgos Railway Port Station, one side of the platform has standard gauge tracks with a gauge of 1.435 meters; the other side has broad gauge tracks with a gauge of 1.52 meters. Large gantry cranes move back and forth, transferring containers from the standard gauge to the broad gauge cars.
“In recent years, we have continuously increased hardware investments and added more transshipment lines to make the process more convenient and reduce the queue time for trains,” said Buyin Batu Saerna, director of the freight workshop at Horgos Railway Station. “The transshipment time for each China-Europe freight train has been reduced from 3 hours to just over 1 hour.”
After the transshipment is completed, the X8157 China-Europe freight train undergoes a final border inspection and then begins its journey out of the country. It is expected to arrive in Malaszewicze, Poland,
