Shijiazhuang, Dec. 5 (CNS) — A China-Europe Railway Express train loaded with mechanical equipment, cashmere products, furniture and other goods departed from Shijiazhuang International Land Port on December 5. It marks the launch of the first full-course timetable China-Europe Railway Express service in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. The full-course timetable service enables freight trains to operate with punctuality similar to passenger trains.
In November, China State Railway Group released the fourth batch of China-Europe Railway Express services operating under the full-course timetable system, adding seven new routes including the Shijiazhuang–Warsaw route. Starting from December 5, the service will operate regularly once a week, departing from Shijiazhuang International Land Port every Friday. The train will exit China through the Erlianhaote railway port and eventually arrive in Warsaw, Poland. The transit time is stabilized at approximately 14 days and 3 hours, with further distribution possible to major European logistics hubs such as Budapest, Duisburg and Hamburg.
The key advantage of the full-course timetable China-Europe Railway Express is its “scheduled delivery” capability. Compared with conventional China-Europe railway freight services, the full-course timetable integrates operation schedules across China, broad-gauge railway sections and European railway networks. By fixing train numbers, routes, departure schedules and operating times across different countries, it effectively reduces waiting time during port transfers, gauge changes and handover procedures, improving transportation efficiency and helping enterprises reduce logistics costs.
“The overall transit efficiency of the full-course timetable China-Europe Railway Express has improved by more than 30% compared with regular China-Europe trains,” said Liu Jinpeng, General Manager of Shijiazhuang International Land Port. The launch of this service will provide a more efficient and reliable cross-border logistics supply chain for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to connect with European markets.
Since the beginning of this year, the China-Europe Railway Express service in Shijiazhuang has developed rapidly. In the first 11 months, more than 1,100 trains were operated, transporting over 115,000 TEUs of cargo with a total weight exceeding 1.4 million tons. Shijiazhuang has become the first China-Europe Railway Express hub platform in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to achieve more than 1,000 annual train operations.
