GERMANY's DB Schenker has tested a new rail route linking Chongqing and Duisberg and hopes regular blocktrain services will start later this year, reports London's International Freighting Weekly.

    Trains will run south of Mongolia through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Poland into Germany, saving 2,000 kilometres instead of using the Trans-Siberian Railway through Russia.

    The 10,300 kilometre test run took 16 days, half the transit time of ocean carriage.

    "Quite a few global companies of different industries operate in Chongqing. The majority of goods exported to Europe currently take the sea route," said Karl-Friedrich Rausch, board member of DB Mobility Logistics, who believes the tests will convince customers to use the service.

    "Transporting containers to a Chinese seaport alone takes three days. By the time they get there, the train to Duisburg will have already covered half the journey through China along the Eurasian land bridge," said Dr Rausch.

    "Scheduled services between China and Germany could begin this year with sufficient demand," he said.

(Source:http://www.schednet.com)