On the morning of October 20, 2026, a freight train loaded with soda ash slowly started on the track of Linhe Station in Inner Mongolia. The containers on the train will first be transported by railway to Tianjin Port, then transferred to a liner southward, and finally arrive at Qingyuan Port in Guangdong. For the shipping company, this batch of goods only requires one commission, one waybill, and one settlement from the factory to the factory, and all the intermediate links are digested in the background.

On this day, the cumulative annual freight volume of the national railway intermodal transportation system exceeded 110000 TEUs, exceeding the annual target task. From pilot exploration to normalized and large-scale operation, this green logistics channel is becoming increasingly stable.

A single order runs the entire process

In the past, a batch of goods was transported by both railway and waterway, and the shipper had to contact multiple units including railway, port, and shipping, repeatedly fill out documents, and coordinate short haul and transshipment, which was time-consuming and laborious. The one order system simplifies this process into one step: the customer fills in the waybill information on the railway 95306 platform, and the platform automatically completes the water freight booking and railway car booking. The railway enterprise receives the container goods and charges a one-time fee for the entire process. The goods arrive at the port of arrival through intermodal transportation and are delivered to the consignee after completing the port clearance operation. The destination of the entire process is traceable, controllable, and traceable.

One commission, one order to the end, one box to the end, one settlement, saves not only procedures, but also time and costs. Nowadays, single shipment transportation has covered multiple categories such as grain, chemicals, minerals, etc. The combination products of railway trains and shipping liners are constantly enriched, and more and more enterprises are tasting the sweetness of full logistics.

Eight parties work together to break through the blockage point

The ability to scale up relies on mechanisms. China Railway Container Transport Co., Ltd. leverages the role of the Iron and Steel Intermodal Transport Cooperation Platform Office, linking eight regional working groups in Yingkou, Tianjin, Wuhan, Qingdao, Shanghai, Xiamen, Guangzhou, and Qinzhou, and collaborating with 18 railway bureau group companies and 29 port and shipping member enterprises to establish a two-level linkage model of platform coordination and regional implementation.

Each regional working group will move their desks to the front line, conduct visits and research, coordinate needs, and explore increments. When encountering intermodal bottlenecks, the platform has implemented a mechanism of problem collection, graded disposal, and closed-loop cancellation to solve them one by one, promoting the full chain connection of railways, ports, and airlines, and solving industry problems such as poor connectivity, scattered resources, and insufficient collaboration.

The more woven the channel, the denser it becomes

Relying on the advantages of a single system network, the national intermodal transportation layout continues to be optimized. The railway department will optimize and expand the original 6 main domestic iron and water intermodal transportation channels to 8, forming a intermodal transportation channel system with regional key coastal and river port areas as hubs. Since the beginning of this year, there have been 204 new iron water intermodal transportation projects nationwide, and the coverage, radiation capacity, and operational resilience of the channels have been simultaneously improved.

Since the comprehensive promotion of the single unit system for intermodal transportation by China Railway Group in 2025, the digitalization and standardization level of multimodal transportation has continued to improve. As of now, the railway 95306 platform has cumulatively signed and shipped 154200 TEUs online, and has normalized the operation and maintenance of 273 special transportation products for iron water intermodal transportation. The brand influence of the single order system continues to expand.

From a single waybill to a network, railway freight is moving from managing transportation to managing logistics. Breaking through 110000 TEUs is not the end point. With more port and shipping enterprises connecting and more routes being laid out, this iron water intermodal transportation channel will provide stronger support for reducing logistics costs throughout society and promoting smooth circulation of the national economy.Editor/Yang Meiling