Raise rail shipping capacity, execute service upgrades: ICCT to China

Although China has initiated efforts to use rail shipping for more types of commodities, additional actions can be taken to ensure service and capacity upgrades meet the shipping needs of the freight market, it said in a recent report.

Collaboration with various industries and companies could enhance understanding and analysis of the gaps in China’s rail network with the aim of better serving the freight market, it said.

The average hauling length of China’s railways system has decreased slightly, possibly due to an improved network resulting from the building of more railyards and stations, the report noted.

ICCT recommended China to upgrade heavy axle loads and use bigger rail cars on designated coal shipping lines that can help meet growing hauling demand. Applying improved infrastructure and equipment across the rail network could be considered to increase overall shipping capacity.

The experience in the United States indicates that the rail system in China should consider proactively planning and investing in intermodal transport service due to the expected decrease in shipping demand for heavy, bulk products. Rail companies in the United States have upgraded their services with higher speed and improved efficiency to accommodate intermodal shipping.

Drawing from the intermodal patterns observed in the United States, commodities like textiles, leather, precision instruments, transport equipment, plastics, rubber, electronics and pharmaceuticals could be strong candidates for railway intermodal shipping in China, the report noted.

China could prioritise in-depth analyses of these specific products to identify the opportunities for industry-wide recommendations and policy measures aimed at promoting intermodal shipping.

Implementing such practices would serve as a precursor to launching comprehensive freight flow surveys in China, enabling preliminary testing and evaluation before full-scale promotion efforts, ICCT said.

While China has initiated efforts to understand shipping patterns for certain products, more comprehensive data collection could be used to gain a deeper understanding of shipping demand and railway capacity, it said.

Insufficient measurement metrics on infrastructure utilization and intermodal shipping can also hinder market development tracking.

Additional statistics and analysis could be used to assess how the current rail system in China serves the freight market and scope plans for future investment and development, ICCT added.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)