UTLC ERA, Belintertrans-Germany (BIT-Germany), and Liski have partnered to run a 50 FEU-big container train from Chongqing to Sławków that avoids gauge change in Europe.

As such, the set went through the Goryn'-Udryts'k crossing at the border between Belarus and Ukraine. From the latter the train could directly reach Sławków in Poland as the terminal there is connected to the 1,520 mm gauge network.

It took 16 days in total to go from China to Poland. Apart from the all mentioned countries, the set also crossed Kazakhstan and Russia.

"It is necessary to maintain a high speed of transportation and reduce transit time in order to ensure high quality services. The train is able to travel 1,200 km per day and it only loses speed at border crossings," Alexey Grom, CEO, UTLC ERA, explained.

He furthered, "Our and our shareholders' main technological efforts are focused on reducing transit time. Engaging new border crossings within an agreed business model, as well as diversifying increasing cargo flows is one of the possible solutions. We expect that the route through the Goryn' border crossing will become a good growth point for the future development of UTLC ERA services."

Photo: Euroterminal Sławków