A freight train of China Railway Express (Yuxinou) to Europe with containers carrying postal parcels slowly departed from the station on the early morning of April 25. This marks that the total number of such containers has topped 1,000.
Containers of International Postal Parcels Carried by China Railway Express (Yuxinou) Top 1,000. (iChongqing file photo)
"Significant breakthroughs in cross-border railway transport are the greatest contributor to this achievement," said Zhang Xin, head of the Tuanjie Village Railway Central Station.
He added that the transportation route of international postal parcels linking Chongqing and Lithuania has become a critical channel to deliver international mails under emergency circumstances.
Five years ago, Chongqing was approved by the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China to be the country's first city to pilot railway postal delivery. As soon as the test for outbound/inbound trains of China Railway Express (Yuxinou) was completed, the international railway postal delivery entered a new chapter.
In May 2020, China Railway Express (Yuxinou) launched the first dedicated rail transport of protective materials.
“Altogether 13.43 million euros (about 16.2 million U. S. dollars) worth of masks, protective suits, gloves, etc., were encased in 86 TEUs and delivered to Poland," said Zhang. "From then on, more of such trains run on rails."
China Railway Express (Yuxinou) also delivered postal parcels blocked by airlines affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Many parcels from places like Beijing and Shanghai need to be shipped to Europe, including epidemic prevention materials.
As of now, 445,100 international postal dispatches, weighing 6,171 tons and valued at 300 million U. S. dollars, have been delivered by China Railway Express (Yuxinou).
Zhang noted, "Next, the station will build import channels at a faster pace and intensify cooperation with customs, governments, and postal administration departments, to upgrade the regular operation of postal delivery by China Railway Express (Yuxinou) to a standardized degree."