Freight train begins epic journey from China to Zeebrugge

Federal economy minister Kris Peeters (pictured) was in Daqing on Saturday to witness the start of the link, which he called “very important symbolically”. The train will travel via Russia, Belarus, Poland and Germany before reaching Zeebrugge.

The first train from the Volvo factory, now owned by the Chinese Geely group, is scheduled to arrive in the port on 26 June. According to port CEO Joachim Coens, there will be three trains a week, each carrying 123 cars.

The new cars, the model S90, will then be further transported in containers. The port is looking for ways to fill the train when it returns to China.

The port expects to receive between 30,000 and 40,000 cars over a year, which suggests a higher frequency than expected – up to 300 trains a year, according to Peeters.

The train link will still only represent a small fraction of the total automobile traffic through Zeebrugge, which totalled 2.8 million vehicles in 2016. “Zeebrugge is known to be a world hub for new cars,” Coens said.
Photo: Kris Peeters/Twitter