The government has successfully completed an international multimodal transport pilot project linking rail and maritime transport, opening a new path for Central Asian logistics exports.
(The featured image – a locomotive in Kazakhstan – is for illustration purpose only)
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Railroad Corporation announced on the 3rd that container cargo loaded at Obong Station in Uiwang on December 10th of last year was transported by rail to Busan Port, then by sea to Yantai Port in China, and then by rail for a total distance of 6,044km, arriving in Kazakhstan on December 29th, 19 days after departure.
This pilot project is part of an international multimodal transport pilot project that combines rail and maritime transport with the goal of revitalizing rail logistics between Korea and Central Asia. Following the first pilot project in June of last year, it was implemented once a month from October to December, for a total of four times.
The 2nd to 4th additional pilot projects implemented this time are projects to transport more than 50 40-foot containers of automobile parts, electronic products, etc. exported to Central Asia to Almaty, Kazakhstan and Tashkent, Uzbekistan. They were implemented to expand the results of the 1st pilot project implemented in June and July and to improve on any shortcomings.
In the first pilot project implemented in June and July of last year, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korail operated a 55-car freight train over a distance of 7,123 km from Yanyun Port in China, the starting point of the Trans China Railway (TCR), a transverse railway network that runs across Central Asia, to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.
In the first pilot project, cooperation with China, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan resolved the problem of long waits for freight trains to be assigned at ports or having to sign transport contracts with each country to which freight was being transported. However, it also identified areas for improvement, such as additional transshipment time at border stations when transporting freight to multiple countries.
Accordingly, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korail organized dedicated freight trains only for the amount of cargo sent to a single country (Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan) in the 2nd to 4th additional pilot projects.
Through this, the transit time at the China-Kazakhstan and Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan border stations was minimized, administrative procedures such as customs clearance were improved, and the transportation period was shortened by more than 8 days, and unnecessary costs such as cargo storage fees incurred during the delay period were reduced.
It was shortened by 9 days compared to the transportation period between Obong Station and Kazakhstan (28 days) of the first pilot project, and by 8 days compared to the transportation period between Obong Station and Uzbekistan (30 days).
A logistics industry official who participated in this pilot project said, “Through the international multimodal transport pilot project, long-term congestion at Chinese ports was resolved and the transportation period was shortened, greatly improving the reliability of transporting export cargo from Central Asia.”
Yoon Jin-hwan, director of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s Railway Bureau, emphasized, “Through the international multimodal transport pilot project, we are laying the foundation for domestic companies to stably transport export cargo to Central Asia.” He added, “The government will actively support regular train operations and standardization of work procedures so that our companies can shorten the transportation period and reduce logistics costs by smoothly transporting cargo through international multimodal transport.”
[출처] 대한민국 정책브리핑(www.korea.kr)
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