On the afternoon of 9 October, a China-Europe freight train carrying 7 pieces of industrial production line equipment and other goods left Shanghai’s Minhang Railway Freight Station. This was the first train on the Shanghai-Munich route. The total value of the goods is up to 27 million US dollars. The train will travel directly to Munich, Germany in 17 days.

The freight train carried a total of 55 40-foot containers (110TEU), of which 44 containers are transported to Munich and 11 to Duisburg.

“Compared with sea freight, we have saved almost two-thirds of the transport time; compared with air freight, we have greatly reduced customers’ supply chain transport costs.” Jinqiu Wang, chairman of the platform company – Shanghai Oriental Silk Road Multimodal Transport Co., Ltd, said that the continuous increase in rail routes has expanded logistics options for domestic and foreign import and export companies.

As one of the world’s largest logistics service providers under the Deutsche Bahn Group, DB Schenker has continued to invest in the railway station and organise east-west freight cargo. “This Shanghai-Munich direct train is the result of our commitment to developing new customised routes and expanding additional services”, said the DB Schenker representative.

This year marks the second anniversary of the launch of the China-Europe freight train (Shanghai). Since the launch of the first operation on 28 September 2021, Shanghai Oriental Silk Road Multimodal Transport Co., Ltd has operated more than 140 China-Europe trains.

From the initial low value-added goods such as garments, shoes and hats, glassware and auto parts, the goods carried by the “Shanghai” freight train have gradually shifted to high value-added goods such as photovoltaic modules, LCD panels, motorcycles and elevators.