INGENIEUR
FREIGHT TRAIN FROM
YIWU, CHINA TO MADRID,
SPAIN
A freight train carrying 32
containers with 1,400 tons of
cargo consisting mainly of toys,
stationery and other items for
sale over Christmas left Yiwu,
China on November 18, 2015
and reached Madrid, Spain
in 21 days covering a total of
8,111 miles. A similar trip by
ship would take up to six weeks.
The train returned to Yiwu, China
with olive oil and ham, among
others.
This freight train passed
through Kazakhstan, Russia,
Belarus, Poland, Germany ,
France and finally Spain. This
new railway route is the longest
in the world and it is longer that
Russia’s Trans Siberian railway
linking Russia and Vladivostok
near Russia’s border with China.
The rail link is more
environment-friendly than road
transport in terms of lower
emission of CO2. However, the
cargo had to be transferred
three times during the journey
as a result of different rail
gauges used in different regions.
The Yiwu-Madrid service is
operated by InterRail Servcies
and DB Schenker Rail, and in
Spain by DB’s Spanish Offshoot,
Tranfesa.
Yiwu, 300 km south of
Shanghai, is the world’s largest
trading hub for small consumer
goods especially goods
manufactured by small and
medium enterprises (SMEs).
The Yiwu Trade Centre is a
vast market hall with 60,000
shops displaying samples of
goods for traders to source the
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The maiden freight train from China to Spain