In the early morning, on a loading line at the border of Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Inner Mongolia, a ten thousand ton coal train slowly started, and the boilers of a power plant hundreds of kilometers away were waiting for this batch of fuel; In the southern port, containers that have just been unloaded from trains are directly hoisted onto ocean going cargo ships; A truck driver took out his phone and picked up and delivered the first order of the day on the 95306 platform. These scattered daily fragments pieced together the picture of national railway freight transportation in the first eight months of this year: a total of 2.69 billion tons of goods were shipped, with an average daily loading of 187400 vehicles, a slight increase from the same period last year, and continued to operate at a high level.

Key materials are guaranteed

Relying on the advantages of a nationwide railway network and centralized and unified transportation dispatching and command, the railway has increased its efforts to transport coal from the new main production areas of Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Inner Mongolia, striving to ensure that all coal for electricity is loaded, and fully supporting various regions in welcoming the peak summer season. From January to August, the national railway sent 1.389 billion tons of coal, including 928 million tons of thermal coal. The coal storage of power plants directly supplied by the national railway remained at a high level. We will implement a capacity tilt and priority guarantee for the transportation of key materials for national economy and people's livelihood, ensuring fast and efficient delivery. The freight volume of grain, chemical, and textile categories increased by 9.9%, 5.5%, and 21.7% respectively year-on-year.

Logistics services are more on the right track

Guided by market demand, the development of hierarchical Chinese railway logistics products is accelerating. The logistics general contractor provides customers with one-stop quotation, one-time commission, one contract, and worry free customized services throughout the process. From January to August, a total of 1567 contracts were signed, with a contracted transportation volume of 1.3 billion tons; Bus based express trains have operated a total of 33000 trains and shipped 36.132 million tons of goods, a year-on-year increase of 37%, accurately matching the demand for fast logistics such as e-commerce and cold chain; A total of 192 single unit products for intermodal transportation have been launched, with 85200 TEUs booked. The volume of container intermodal transportation has increased by 8.6% year-on-year; By making good use of the railway and public transportation network cargo platform to provide end-to-end services, the railway and public transportation volume reached 320 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 65.5%. The total financing amount of logistics financial products such as freight loans and freight certificates has reached 13.2 billion yuan, and the new services of insurance and price protection have been fully promoted.

Behind the changes is the promotion of reform: all logistics departments of 18 railway bureau group companies have been listed, and railways are shifting from carriers to comprehensive logistics service providers; The China Multimodal Transport Development Alliance, with the 95306 National Multimodal Transport Platform as its core, promotes the implementation of single unit and one box systems, allowing different modes of transportation to hold hands. The Action Plan for Effectively Reducing Logistics Costs in the Whole Society proposes to strive to increase the proportion of railway freight volume and railway freight turnover to around 11% and 23% respectively by 2027, and the space for railway cost reduction is still open.

The international train runs smoothly

Strengthen communication and cooperation with foreign railway departments, optimize international train transportation organization, improve port handover level, and maintain stable and smooth cross-border freight transportation. From January to August, 24605 China Europe (Asia) trains were operated, a year-on-year increase of 9.7%, among which 14842 China Europe trains were operated, a year-on-year increase of 15.9%; The cross-border freight trains of the China Laos Railway and the rail sea intermodal trains of the new land sea channel in the west have been running steadily, providing a strong transport guarantee for the high-quality joint construction of the the Belt and Road and China's high-level opening up.

Next, China Railway Group will accelerate the construction of a modern railway logistics system, leverage the leading role of the China Multimodal Transport Development Alliance, continuously optimize the supply of logistics products, strive to provide high-quality logistics services that are safe, stable, convenient, efficient, and green economy, help reduce logistics costs for the whole society, and better serve the high-quality development of the economy and society.Editor/Yang Meiling