DB Schenker, the transportation and logistics service provider of Deutsche Bahn, is to offer scheduled rail freight services to China after the festivities for the Chinese New Year in February. Under the product name of the Trans Eurasia Express, two container trains are initially to travel weekly to link up China with Germany in less than 20 days. 'Our endurance in pursuing this project is now paying off. Thanks to our cooperation with five other railways, including the Chinese and Russian railways, we are now able to open up an attractive and reliable new trade route for our customers between the markets in China and Central Europe. We are thus offering an attractive supplement to slower ocean freight and significantly more expensive air freight,' said Hartmut Mehdorn, CEO and Chairman of the Management Board, on the arrival of the first Trans Eurasia Express in Hamburg.
In the north German port, a container train carrying products for Fujitsu Siemens Computers arrived today after completing the 10,000-kilometer journey from Xiangtang in 17 days.
'With the introduction of the regular timetable and fixed departure times, this new link in our global network will enable us to offer a new level of quality in the trans-continental exchange of goods. At the same time, we are strengthening our technology leadership at international level,' said Dr. Norbert Bensel, Head of DB Schenker on the Management Board of DB ML AG responsible for the Transportation and Logistics Division, speaking to journalists in Hamburg. 'We have our customers' interest.'
'Operating across the Eurasian Landbridge, the container trains are to link up Shanghai and Beijing with Hamburg, Nuremberg and Duisburg with a weekly regular service. Interest in the new service has already been shown by companies in the automotive industry, the chemical industry, manufacturers of household goods, and from the engineering and paper industries. The trains will be marketed by DB Schenker's national companies.
