Vietnam Railways' logistics subsidiary Ratraco, in cooperation with Maersk and Decathlon, has started trialling a container rail service from the Yien Vien station near Hanoi to the Belgian Liege.

The first set, comprising 23 forty-foot boxes loaded with textiles, footwear and electronics, set off on 20 July, going via the Chinese Zhengzhou and then Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus before entering the EU.

The parties behind the Vietnam-Belgium train intend to turn it into a regular bi-weekly service; however, for westbound volumes only (the trial trains returned to Vietnam empty). Transit time amounts to 25-27 days.

Photo: Ratraco