Hai Duong province is striving to launch the first international freight train from Cao Xa railway station in Cao An commune, Cam Giang district on April 30.
Cao Xa station is located on Ha Noi – Hai Phong rail route with three lines for trains to detour, load and unload freight.
The station is about 5 km from Hai Duong city center and near many industrial parks and factories with large import and export needs. It also connects district road 194B with many provincial roads and national highways to localities inside and outside the province.
Vietnam Railway Corporation (VNR) is rushing to finish renovating and upgrading the station, including an office building, a cargo yard, and paths for trains and cargo loading and unloading, to meet minimum requirements for specialized bonded yards.
There will be two international intermodal routes from Cao Xa station as proposed by VNR.
Route 1 runs from Cao Xa station through the stations of Yen Vien (Ha Noi), Kep (Bac Giang), Dong Dang (Lang Son) in Vietnam and Pingxiang in Guangxi, China. From there, freight will be taken deep into mainland China or to Central Asian countries, Russia, the EU, etc.
Route 2 traverses Cao Xa station and the stations of Lao Cai in Vietnam, Shanyao and North Hekou in Yunnan to inland China.
Hai Duong is one of the leading localities in Vietnam in producing and processing import and export goods. Plus, there is great demand for importing production materials from China to Vietnam as well as exporting products from Vietnam to major international markets.
After upgrading, customs procedures can be done right at Cao Xa station, and from there, exports will be transported by rail to border gates to other countries, shortening time for procedure processing as well as transport.
International rail freight transport is also an effective solution due to low costs, capability to transport large volumes of goods, including frozen ones (suitable for transporting agricultural products such as lychees and carrots), safety, and reduction of environmental pollution.
At a recent field trip to the construction site of the project to renovate and upgrade the cargo yard of Cao Xa station, Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Tran Duc Thang suggested acceleration of the construction progress so as to launch the first international freight train this April 30.
NGUYEN HOANG