China Shipping forms alliance for sea-rail transport network

China Shipping Container Lines, the country's second-largest container line, has formed a strategic alliance with China Railway Container Transportation Company to launch the first sea-railway intermodal transport network to cover the entire mainland, cutting haulage costs.

Under the framework agreement signed yesterday in Beijing, China Shipping Container Lines will use trains to move containers mainly to inland regions at least 300 kilometres from the major ports, such as Inner Mongolia, Xian, Chengdu and Guizhou, said Huang Xiaowen, managing director of China Shipping Container Lines.

'Railway transportation is economical only over long distances,' said Mr Huang. He estimates that 20 per cent to 30 per cent of costs could be cut by using trains instead of trucks for shipments to points more than 300km away from the ports.

Banking on the economic development in inland areas, China Shipping Container Lines forecast that the volume flowing there will increase from last year, when it moved 60,000 20-foot equivalent units inland.

The company has already adopted sea-railway intermodal transport in some port areas such as Shanghai and Dalian.

However, an executive at a mainland port operator has voiced doubts over the deal, noting that railway infrastructure in the mainland is not comprehensive enough even to meet the needs of passengers. 'Sea-railway inter-mode is not mature at this stage,' he said..