Hamburg, an important intermodal hub of Germany, has become a part of the Japan/South Korea – Europe multimodal route. In November RZD Logistics performed the first delivery from the German city to the Japanese seaport of Yokohama on demand of Nippon Express. The first 40-foot container arrived in Japan after a 22-day journey.

After several test shipments during the summer, the Japan/South Korea – Europe multimodal route was launched on a regular basis in September. It connected Japan and South Korea with Poland. Now, this corridor has been extended to the German city of Hamburg. On the way to Japan, the single container ran via Poland, Belarus and Russia by rail and then it was transported to Yokohama by vessel. The rail leg of the route uses one of the traditional routes of New Silk Road to China – via the Małaszewicze/Brest border crossing and the Trans-Siberian Railway to Vladivostok. The journey from Brest to Vladivostok took 10 days while the entire journey lasted 22 days.

The container was equipped with temperature, humidity and vibration sensors in order to provide safe transportation along the entire route. Moreover, RZD Logistics daily informed Nippon Express about the location of freight. “The first test high cube container heading to the port of Yokohama has proved to the Japanese customer that this multimodal route is not only more than twice as fast as shipping by sea, but also guarantees cargo safety throughout the entire transportation period. In the Trans-Siberian LandBridge, we see very great potential, as many shippers are extremely interested in reducing transit time between the European countries and Japan”, said Vyacheslav Valentik, CEO of RZD Logistics.

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Trans-Siberian LandBridge

Like other shipments on the Japan/South Korea – Europe multimodal route, the delivery from Hamburg to Yokohama has been performed by RZD Logistics together with its partners PCC Intermodal and FESCO Group. The companies offer the joint service known as Trans-Siberian LandBridge. In spite of the name, it includes a short maritime leg between Japan or South Korea to the Russian seaports of Vladivostok and Vostochny, 200 kilometres eastward from Vladivostok. To deliver containers, FESCO uses its regular shipping lines. Afterwards, the freight runs by rail with transshipment at the border between Belarus and Poland.

The Trans-Siberian LandBridge service could also include a road leg if a customer requires it. Thus, the summer test delivery from South Korea to Poland has been performed by using a lorry for the last mile service. It has transported containers on the 30-kilometre distance from Wrocław to Brzeg-Dolny. In this case, the entire delivery time between the termini took 21 days.

Also read:

• Japan/South Korea – Europe multimodal route has options for new branches
• Delivery time Japan-Europe will be reduced to 11-14 days