On March 4th, 20 containers loaded with automobile bulk parts, mushroom and other cargoes departed Xiangyang Railway Station for Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, indicating that the regular train for “Xiangyang-Ningbo-Zhoushan Port” Sea-railway Intermodal transport has successfully completed first running and the “Xiangyang to Ningbo-Zhoushan Port” container sea-railway intermodal transport has officially realized regular operation of train. The deputy general manager of the Company Chu Bin attended the kicking-off meeting for the first running of the train.
As an important industrial town and the transportation hub in central China region, Xiangyang is the only large city within a territory of 300,000-sqm where Hebei, Henan, Chongqing and Shanxi provinces adjoin and enjoys a distinct geographic advantage. In Sept. 2012, the Company signed a strategic cooperative agreement with Xiangyang Municipal Government to activate container sea-railway intermodal transport business from Xiangyang to Ningbo. Over the past 3 years, the company has realized substantial increase of container sea-railway intermodal business in Xiangyang direction . The annual business volume was increased from over 100 TEUs in 2012 to over 2,000 TEUs in 2015, with annual growing rate of up to 40%. Sea-railway intermodal transport has become a conventional logistics mode for container exports for foreign enterprises in Xiangyang region. Xiangyang has become the Company’s most important container source distribution spot in central China region.
The successful operation of “Xiangyang to Ningbo-Zhoushan Port” regular train further consolidated Ningbo-Zhoushan Port’s position in sea-railway intermodal business market in Xiangyang region. According to the sources, the whole running time of the regular train is around 50 hours, reduced by about 2 days compared to the previously sporadic transport mode or 4 days compared to river-sea intermodal mode, saving logistic cost of over 500 Yuan per container . In the initial stage, the regular train will run once every ten days. Then, it will gradually increase frequency and provide better and more efficient logistics service for enterprises in Xiangyang and surrounding regions.