German forwarder DB Schenker is to launch a scheduled rail cargo service between China and Germany for its high-value shippers.
It currently has a train carrying 50 containers of computer components en route from Xiangtang, some 440 miles north of Hong Kong, due to arrive in Hamburg on October 6 after a 17-day, 6,250-mile journey through Mongolia, Russia, Belarus and Poland.
Schenker said the shipper, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, chose rail because it was 25 per cent cheaper than airfreight and quicker than the 30 to 35 days it takes to ship by sea.
Schenker says it will launch a “Trans-Eurasia-Express" weekly connection between China and Germany, with departures in both countries.
Meanwhile, Mazda will become the first Japanese automaker to ship cars to Russia on the Trans-Siberian Railroad.
Starting this month, the cars will be transported by sea from Japan to the Port of Zarubino near Vladivostok and then transferred to railcars. Mazda said it plans initially to send around 30 per cent of its annual Russian exports of around 80,000 vehicles by train.
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