Shenzhen: After many years of on/off development, China’s intermodal rail to Europe is beginning to show progress.
“Although rail transport only accounts for 1% of the overall multimodal transport in China, I strongly believe China has a lot more room for intermodal rail development,” said Frederic Campagnac, general manager of Clevy China at a panel discussion of the UBM-organised TPM Asia conference in Shenzhen yesterday.
“There are huge developments in infrastructure, tracks and terminals in China including the ongoing 18 CRI terminals project, and many economic centers have been developing fast in inland China including Kunming, Sichuan/Chongqing, Urumqi and Harbin; and many favourable policies have been made for the development of inland China. Moreover, many economic corridors have no competition in terms of barge transport,” Campagnac explained.
Ambrose Linn, senior regional directorat DHL Global Forwarding also revealed the company’s ambition to expand its market in China. “We are trying to expand into the region here, and we are planning to add new services connecting China to Europe next year,” he said. Currently DHL has opened intermodal rail services in a number of major cities in China, including Dalian. Containers shipped from Japan and Korea to Dalian could be transferred by rail to Manzhouli and further onto Europe.
The speakers also elaborated on several sectors which need to be greatly improved in the rail industry in China, including availability of empty containers, rate flexibility, operating systems and regionalism. [18/10/12]
