ZHENGZHOU, China, July 19 (UPI) -- A company in China using a daisy-chain of rail links said it was offering railroad shipping service from China to Germany.
Zhengzhou International Inland Development Company is offering the service, which will include an 18-day rail trip of about 6,345 miles, the China Daily reported Friday.
Shipping costs are expected to be 80 percent less than air freight. It will also be priced $500 less than overland trucking services, the newspaper said.
In addition, at least compared to marine shipping, it will be a far quicker trip -- about half as long, China Daily said.
The company will link shipping services that include three different railway gauges and send freight through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Poland.
The services has been made possible by increased demand, China Daily said.
"The degree of interdependence between China and Germany continues to deepen with surging bilateral cross-industry trade," said Luo Renjian, a researcher at the Institute of Transportation Research under the National Development and Reform Commission.
"It can save a lot of time and money to import German electronic products, construction machinery, vehicles and parts, medical equipment and other high value-added products through this new international rail route," said Karl-Heinz Emberger, managing director of Central and North China, DB Schenker (China) Ltd.
