A new railway service connecting Amsterdam and Yiwu in China was launched on March 7. The 11,000-kilometre route travels through Germany, Poland, Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan before it reaches China.
“Today, the first freight train begins its journey from Amsterdam to the Chinese city of Yiwu. Out of the 11,000 kilometres that the train will pass, nearly 3,000 kilometres go through the territory of Kazakhstan,” Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to the Netherlands Magzhan Ilyasov said at the opening ceremony.
The freight train, which is owned by the Dutch company Nunner Logistics, will deliver cargo to the final destination in 16 days. Its 41 cargo containers army equipment, mineral fertilisers, pharmaceuticals, optical devices and technical equipment to China.
Every week, it is planned that three freight trains will depart from Amsterdam to Yiwu. By 2020, the total number of trains sent from the European Union to China is expected to reach 5,000 per year.