Largest goods shipment by rail from Map Ta Phut to China’s Chongqing
The largest consignment of goods carried to date by rail from Thailand’s Map Ta Phut made its way to China’s Chongqing Railway Station this week.
The train transported 25 forty-foot containers carrying thermoplastic granules, shipped via the Laos-Thailand and Laos-China railways through Thanaleng Dry Port in Vientiane, where the two railways link up.
Through this new route, cargo that is in transit from Asean could subsequently reach Europe through Chongqing Dry Port and the China-Europe rail network.
The freight train, the fifth of its kind, departed Map Ta Phut in Rayong on October 6.
The shipment arrived a day later at Na Tha Railway Station in Nong Khai province, where the containers were sealed. On the same day, the shipment entered Thanaleng Dry Port near the first Laos-Thailand Mekong Friendship Bridge, where a cross-border declaration of the shipment was issued and the containers were X-rayed.
They were then loaded onto waiting Laos-China Railway bogies headed for Vientiane Tai Railway Station before travelling onwards and reaching Boten Railway Station on October 9.
A day later, the shipment crossed the Laos-China border to the Mohan Railway Station, where customs procedures were carried out before the containers were delivered to their final destination.
Thanaleng Dry Port, which opened for service on December 4, 2021, has played a pivotal role in facilitating cross-border trade and transport.
A considerable amount of freight has been transported through the newly built Laos-China Railway since then.
Several Thai businesses have shipped their goods to China via this route, as the preferred alternative to overland transport.
Laos’ first-ever established integrated dry port is an important gateway between Southeast Asian countries and China.
This new multimodal transport node serves as a major link between various logistics centres in the region, facilitating cross-border and transit services between Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore and China.
In the first nine months of the year, as many as 41,000 containers (import, export and transit) passed through Thanaleng Dry Port.
Vientiane Times
Asia News Network
