CEVA Logistics has launched an express train service from Jinhua (China) to Dourges (France) to provide additional freight capacity for shippers amid unprecedented demand for transport and logistics services. Dourges serves as a transit point: from here cargo is forwarded to Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy as well as France.

Loaded with 22 full containers of various supplies, the train departed from the city of Jinhua in east China’s Zhejiang Province on 26 November and arrived in Dourges 18 days later on 14 December. The train connects a string of “Belt and Road” countries such as Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, and Germany with a journey of over 11,000 km.

Fast alternative

The Jinhua-Dourges express train means a fast, convenient, and sustainable alternative to trucking. Compared to cargo movement via truck, the block train option reduces CO2 emissions by up to 67 per cent, the company noted. Xavier Bour, CEVA Logistics’ Global Ground and Rail Product Leader: “With global supply chains experiencing unprecedented demand for transport and logistics services, CEVA Logistics is committed to providing its existing and potential customers with convenient and sustainable solutions. Our rail and multi modal solutions, together with our parent company the CMA CGM Group, between China and Europe are part of that strategy.

“France is an important logistics hub on the European market and with this new service, CEVA Logistics has tapped into the rail market for Eastern and Western Europe. Our next extension of our rail footprint will be the development of the southern Europe market.”

Dourge as a hub

Dourges is an important transportation hub in northern France, adjacent to Belgium, with a large integrated cargo transshipment center for sea, land and air transportation. It is in a key and advantageous position in the European logistics chain. The city provides rail connections to many destinations in southern Europe, such as Bordeaux, Avignon, Lyon, Marseille and other southern French cities. At the intercontinental logistics center in Dourges, batches of goods are delivered to European markets such as France, Spain, Italy, and Poland.

As early as 2017, the city was one of the important stops on the European section of the new Silk Road. This was the starting month of the Wuhan-Dourges train route, a customised service for Decathlon enterprises. More recently, in October 2020, Dourges received a train from the coastal city of Hefei.