HCMC – The Vietnam Railway Corporation (VNR) today, July 20, launched its first container train from Vietnam to Belgium.
The train with 23 containers transports goods such as garments and footwear. It departed from Yen Vien station and will arrive in the Belgian city of Liege. Its containers will then be transported by road to the final destination in Rotterdam City in the Netherlands, reported VietnamPlus.
During its journey, the train will arrive in China’s Zhengzhou and connect to an Asia-Europe train to proceed to its final destination
According to VNR, this is the first container train to be operated in coordination with VNR’s affiliate Railway Transport and Trade JSC (Ratraco) and other foreign freight forwarders to offer logistics services to customers from Vietnam to final destinations.
A VNR representative said that the local railway sector offers freight train services between Vietnam and China and freight transit services to Russia, Europe, ASEAN nations and countries in Central Asia.
Nguyen Hoang Thanh, vice general director of Ratraco, told the news outlet that the successful launch of the container train from Vietnam to Belgium will pave the way for more freight train routes to more European countries, aside from the existing routes linking Vietnam with Germany and Poland.
Ratraco and its European business partners are working on plans to operate eight freight trains departing from Vietnam monthly. The total travel time is 25-27 days, Thanh added.
The second container train transporting electronic products will leave Yen Vien station on July 27, and the third one will depart on August 3.
While the sea transport sector is facing a hard time due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many customers have switched to using freight train services from Vietnam to China and then to Europe.
