The first shipment on a new freight service on 14 August was 64FEU (forty-foot equivalent units) of knock-down (KD) automobile parts ordered for a Motor factory in Russia for shipment from Vladivostok. The freight train was due to arrive 9,600 km away at Shushary Station in southern Saint Petersburg twelve days later on Aug. 26.
A block train is a dedicated freight train system with an express linkage between the freight’s origin and destination and no stops in between. Freight can be shipped straight to its destination once loaded.
Existing freight transport from Vladivostok on the TSR operates through irregularly scheduled single trains stopping at multiple destinations and terminals along the way; shipments are sent mainly to Saint Petersburg and inland Moscow, which is also the final destination for most of the block train service currently available.