In the summer of Dalian Port Container Terminal, a train departing from Shenyang stops on time, and the fully loaded car parts do not need to be transported again. They are directly loaded onto ocean going cargo ships and sent to Europe. In the first seven months of this year, the transportation volume of the four core sea rail intermodal main channels of Dalian Port increased by more than 30% year-on-year. This steel logistics network, which is expanding northward, is directly connecting the industrial advantages of the Northeast hinterland to the global trade system.

Backbone lines running out of growth contrast

Against the backdrop of a slowdown in the growth rate of sea rail intermodal transportation in most ports across the country, the land-based channel of Dalian Port has achieved a growth rate far exceeding the industry average. The Chifeng Channel started from scratch and formed a stable weekly train flow in just a few months, completing the transition from blank to backbone lines. The Daqing Channel has tapped into the potential for deep processing of grain sources, with a year-on-year increase of over 20% in transportation volume in the first seven months. The Shenyang Dalian backbone line has doubled its frequency of trips, from two or three trips per week to four to six trips per week, with a year-on-year increase in transportation volume of nearly 90%, making it the most stable outbound logistics trunk line in the Northeast hinterland.

The seven newly opened trains in 2026 will directly connect regions such as Yuanda, Suihua, and Hunchun South that previously did not have direct sea routes to the network. The goods from eastern Mongolia and eastern Heilongjiang do not need to take detours and can be directly transported to the world through Dalian Port.

Service restructuring to unblock logistics bottlenecks

Dalian Port did not follow the old path of simply laying out routes, but directly targeted the logistics pain points of hinterland enterprises. In response to the problem of price increases during peak season of road transportation and the interruption of transportation capacity in rainy and snowy weather, we have coordinated with railway and production enterprises to customize stable schedules, transferring large quantities of goods such as grain, equipment, and automotive parts from roads to railways, resulting in a direct reduction of nearly 20% in logistics costs per ton.

The full chain implementation of one box direct mode, where goods are packed in inland factories and transported directly to the port for loading without opening the container, reducing transit time by nearly half. Tailored exclusive train schedules for different customers such as Shenyang automobile manufacturers and Chifeng light industry enterprises, fully matching their shipping plans, completely solving the old problem of mismatched logistics and production rhythms. Keywords: land channel, port sea rail intermodal transportation

The current Dalian Port is no longer the terminal loading and unloading node of the past, but a logistics dispatch hub connecting the Northeast hinterland to the world. The constantly encrypted sea rail network is delivering the dividends of the Northeast Sea Land Corridor directly to the factory gates, accumulating tangible logistics advantages for regional industrial recovery.Editor/Cheng Liting