10,000 km rail link the Port of Antwerp to China

A train trip from the Port of Antwerp, the second largest European port after Rotterdam-The Netherlands, to Chongqing is 10,000 kilometres long and will take 20 to 25 days; by ship it takes 40 days to transport cargo from Belgium to one of the major Chinese ports, after which it must still travel by train or inland ship to Chongqing. Antwerp will henceforth bundle cargo destined for inland China and send it by train, irrespective of whether the cargo comes from Europe, West Africa or even the Americas. Once in Chongqing the goods can then be distributed anywhere in China. The Port of Antwerp hopes to profile itself in this manner as a worldwide transport hub with China. The harbour presently handles 250 goods trains a day. From the other side, the railway will serve to provide Chinese companies with European ambitions an easy access route to the West. Initially the goods trains will mostly transport chemical products and high-quality electronics to Antwerp.

Although it costs more to move good by train than by ship, for these industries the time gained is worth the increased price. “A sufficient cargo moving in both directions is a crucial factor to the line’s viability,” said operator Hupac, a Swiss transport giant that has been operating in Antwerp for years and which operates the line in Germany and Poland. The Ukraine-Russia-Mongolia section is run by Russkaya Troyka, while the Chinese section of the line is covered by Eurasia Good Transport. To limit delays, Belgian customs will exchange information with the customs services of the transit nations and China when a train departs, to avoid unnecessary delays.

The creation of a ‘green line’ – a line with a minimum of red tape to deal with - would be a first between Europe and China. The basic Antwerp-Chongqing line can branch off in the Far East to other destinations in Russia and China and in the West to various European cities. The new line does not compete with the maritime companies in the harbour, and will actually create additional maritime traffic, says Port of Antwerp alderman Marc Van Peel (CD&V): "Antwerp has, as the second largest European port, positioned itself for a long time as the hub of Europe, as well as of West Africa and North and South America,” he said. “This initiative will only reinforce that position.”

The idea of a rail link between Antwerp and Chongqing was born last year during a mission to China by the Antwerp Provincial Development Agency and the Antwerp Port Authority. Antwerp is not the only European city looking to maintain close contact with the Chinese industrial centre by rail, as Deutsche Bahn recently tested a cargo train link between the megacity and Duisburg in Germany.