First container train from Vietnam to Belgium launched

Following their arrival in Belgium, the containers will subsequently be transported by road to their final destination of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

The train will be loaded up with 23 of export items, including garments, textiles, and footwear. According to the plan, the train will arrive at China’s Zhengzhou and connect to the Asia-Europe train before reaching its final destination.

This marks the first container train operated by Railway Transport and Trading Joint Stock Company (Ratraco) in co-ordination with shipping and forwarding businesses based in other countries.

The successful organisation of the container train from the nation to Belgium will serve to open up rail transport links that go deeper into Europe, in addition to the existing routes to Germany and Poland.

Ratraco and its European partners have begun to devise plans to run eight trips per month departing from the country, with the total estimated transit time for each journey being between 25 and 27 days.

The second container train is anticipated to depart from Yen Vien on July 27 and will carry a range of electronic products, while the third train will depart on August 3.

Amid the complex nature of the COVID-19 pandemic globally, international sea transport is facing an increasingly-challenging period. Many customers have resorted to utilising rail transport in order to carry international intermodal goods from the nation to China, and from there moving them to Europe.