A second departure of the Xian-Ceska Trebova train will be offered from 1 September 2019. This was announced by operator of the train Beijing Trans Eurasia International Logistics (BTE). The service will run in both directions twice a week.

The service connects the centrally located Chinese hub with the city of Ceska Trebova in Czechia. Since the first departure on 29 March 2019, the transit time has been stable, around 13 days. It crosses the Chinese-Kazakh border at Khorgos-Altynkol and the Belarusian-Polish border at Brest-Malaszewicze.

High demand

“In order to meet the demand for more space, the train will be scheduled with two departures each week”, said Wanxu Dong, managing director of the company. The train carries between 41 to 50 40ft high-cube containers per train. “On the westbound trains we see car spare parts, machinery, fashion items, textile and electronic products. Towards the east, we carry beer, car spare parts or toys.”

“It is a competitive product/service on the market, customer like it very much”, said Dong, explaining how the company manages to maintain the stable transit time. “We aim to keep the train full loaded and running as scheduled.”

Central and Eastern Europe

Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is growing in importance on the New Silk Road. From Ceska Trebova, cargo can be transshipped to other cities in the region, such as as Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest with a total transit time from 14 days to 16 days. BTE also operates two trains per week to Poznan (Poland).