An Overview of China Railway Express

It has been six years since the BRI was first put forward. Within just a few years, CR Express has made numerous trips between China, Europe and the countries along the B&R, with greater flow of commodities and more and more transit lines involved. Also, an increasing number of countries have joined in, reproducing the trade spectacle along the ancient Silk Road.

Organized by China Railway Corporation, China Railway Express (CR Express) is a railway network in which containers and other international intermodal trains travel between China, Europe and the countries along the B&R according to fixed train numbers, routes, schedules and service time. China Railway Express connects not only Europe and the countries along the line, but also East Asia, Southeast Asia and other areas. It is not only a railway passage, but also an intermodal corridor.

Goals achieved in advance: a total number of 6,363 trips in 2018, with a year-on-year growth of 73 percent, realizing two years ahead of schedule the objective of 5,000 trips each year.

Further expansion of circle of friends: the number of domestic cities that have operated China-Europe trains reaches 56. The trains can reach 49 cities in 15 European countries.

Optimal index ever achieved: The ratio of the number of inbound trips to that of outbound ones is 72 percent. In addition, indicators including the laden rate, schedule reliability have also delivered the best performance..

Through preliminary exploration, CR Express has formulated a multinational cooperation mechanism for the operation of international trains. Railway companies from China, Belarus, Germany, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Poland and Russia have signed the Agreement on Deepening Cooperation in China Railway Express Trains. By the end of 2018, CR Express has connected 108 cities in 16 Eurasian countries. A total number of 13,000 trips (excluding trains from China to Central Asia) have traversed the route, carrying more than 1.1 million TEUs of cargo. The laden rate of trains departing from China reaches 94 percent, and that of returning trains reaches 71 percent CR Express also cooperates with countries along the line on port clearance to gain convenience, reducing both the average inspection rate and the clearance time by 50 percent.

Among the 59 domestic cities in operation of train services Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi'an, Zhengzhou and Wuhan are top five performers in 2018, dispatching 1,587, 1,442, 1,235, 752, and 423 trains respectively, and accounted for more than 80 percent in total. The goods shipped also enjoy an increasingly rich variety, expanding from information technology products like mobile phones and computers to clothing, shoes and hats, automobiles and accessories, grain, wine, coffee beans, timber, furniture, chemicals and mechanical equipment. All those goods are transported through CR Express to 49 cities in 15 European countries.

Currently, more than 70 percent of CR Express trains pass through Alashankou, also known as Alataw Pass. Especially from 2014 to 2017, the traffic volume at Alataw Pass has surged from 260 to 2297.

CR Express has become a decent business card of the BRI. Ning Jizhe, Deputy Director of the Office of the Leading Group for Promoting the Belt and Road Initiative and Deputy Director of the National Development and Reform Commission, made remarked early this year that in 2019, we should further consolidate the consensus on cooperation and development during the development of CR Express, expand its circle of friends, persevere in promoting its market-oriented operation by strengthening brand management and market supervision and accelerate the information construction of CR Express so as to build a digital railway express.