Containers will now be moving by rail from the Xi’an rail hub into Duisburg in Germany for onward trucking to Rotterdam and then by ferry to Purfleet in Essex from March 13th in a service re-started by Davies Turner.
Tony Cole, Davies Turner head of supply chain services said: “In keeping with normal practice, our express China Rail Service did not operate during the Chinese New Year holiday break and its suspension has been further extended due to the Covid-19 coronavirus. With Wuhan, the epicentre of the epidemic, continuing to be under lock-down and the re-opening of factories there recently postponed until March 11th, the rail service will now depart from the Xi’an rail hub,” he added that once the ferries from Rotterdam have landed in Purfleet they will be trucked to its distribution centre near Dartford they will be discharged, customs cleared and delivered.
An initial weekly service, which takes 18 days to reach Duisberg, is planned but this could extend to twice weekly departures depending on demand. Cole added: “At this time we have rail bookings to hand which relate to frames for glasses, plastic film, metal parts, tooling, as well as fashion goods. The service offers a very competitive alternative to air freight in terms of cost, and considerably faster transit times compared to the ocean freight alternative.”
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