DHL has opened three additional rail competence centres in Europe following a “substantial increase” in rail freight volumes along the new silk road from China to Europe .
The sites are located in Felixstowe, UK; Le Havre, France and Genoa, Italy, and are staffed with China Rail experts who advise customers and efficiently coordinate freight volumes.
The rail competence centres will co-ordinate volumes of import and export flows, including less-than-container-load, (LDL), DHL RailConnect and full-container-load, (FCL) DHL Railline products.
The new rail service, operating between Xi’an in China and Hamburg and Neuss in Germany, has been set up in cooperation with Xi’an International Inland Port Investment & Development Group Co. and will reduce transit times from 17 days to between 10 and 12 days – new rail service takes an approximate 9,400 km route through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Lithuania and Kaliningrad, before entering the EU via the Mamonovo-Braniewo crossing.
Thomas Kowitzki, head of China Rail, Multimodal Europe, at DHL Global Forwarding, said: “We’ve seen a substantial increase in rail freight volumes along the ‘New Silk Road’ from China to Europe and vice versa.
“Rail freight products are attractive due to their cost-effectiveness, short transit time, and lower CO2 emissions compared to other transport modes.”
By Michelle Mooney
