A whistle sounded and two tracks were fired simultaneously. On December 15, 2025, Chongqing Yuzui Railway Freight Station staged a vivid scene of "East West mutual aid and sea land linkage". A fully loaded train headed south towards Southeast Asia; The other train set off simultaneously and headed west towards Central Asia. This is not only a routine departure of the China Singapore multimodal transport demonstration project, but also a key milestone in the construction of a new highland for the opening up of China's western inland areas - it marks the official realization of a "golden channel" connecting the two major markets of Central Asia and Southeast Asia in both directions.

The leap from logistics node to strategic hub

The synchronous operation of this two-way train has strategic significance far beyond a simple logistics event. It intuitively demonstrates that Chongqing, as the core function of the western international comprehensive transportation hub, is accelerating its evolution from a "channel" to a "hub".

To the west, integrate into Central Asia and Europe: The Chongqing Central Asia freight train seamlessly connects with the China Europe freight train network, efficiently delivering "Made in China" to the vast Central Asian market and further radiating to the European hinterland.

Southward, connecting ASEAN and the world: The Chongqing Southeast Asia train is efficiently connected to the Western Land Sea New Corridor through rail sea intermodal transportation, closely linking the inland hinterland with the ASEAN Free Trade Area and reaching the world through Singapore.

The physical intersection and efficient linkage of two routes in Chongqing means that Chongqing is becoming a "crossroads" connecting the east and west, and linking the north and south, providing unprecedented transportation route flexibility and cost-effectiveness for enterprises.

The model of China Singapore cooperation and the engine of regional collaboration

As the flagship achievement of the China Singapore (Chongqing) strategic connectivity demonstration project, this two-way departure is a model for the two countries to jointly build the "the Belt and Road". It is not only a logistics connection, but also a deep integration of policies, rules, and standards.

The relevant person in charge of China Railway Chengdu Group stated that in order to ensure the efficient operation of trains, the station adopts a "three priority" strategy (priority alignment, priority pick-up, and priority hanging), which is a process reengineering and efficiency revolution carried out by the railway system to serve national strategies. This internal efficient collaboration is a solid foundation for ensuring smooth external channels.Editor/Bian Wenjun