First rail freight service to China has departed from the UK

The first rail freight service from the UK to China departed on its 17 day, 7500 mile journey on April 10th. British goods including soft drinks, vitamins and baby products are in the 30 containers carried by the train, which will be a regular service.The DP World locomotive left its terminal in Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, for Zhejiang province, eastern China. It will pass through France, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan. It is cheaper to send goods by train than by air and faster than by sea, according to its operators. The first rail freight service in the opposite direction, from China to the UK, arrived three months ago, the link to the news article we wrote is here. The new service is linked to Chinas One Belt One Road initiative, something we discussed in our news post here. International trade minister Greg Hands said: ‘This new rail link with China is another boost for global Britain, following the ancient Silk Road trade route to carry British products around the world.‘It shows the huge global demand for quality UK goods and is a great step for DP World’s £1.5 billion London Gateway port as it also welcomes its first regular container ships from Asia.’ The train finally arrived in China on the 29th April (2 days later than the predicted 27th) and was greeted by traders and shipping company officials when it arrived at Yiwu West station.