The charted freight train linking Hamburg and Harbin prepares to depart from Hamburg, Germany on June 27, 2015. [Photo/my399.com]

When the freight train laden with auto parts and daily necessities left Hamburg, Germany for the city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province, on June 27, it marked the first round-trip journey of the train service on the 9,820-kilometer line, which began on June 13, with 41 containers of auto parts and consumer goods, Harbin’s my399.com has reported.

Tu Xiaoyue, the GM of the HAO Logistics Co, which runs the service, explained that the cargo will pass across Russia to reach the Baltic in the north of Europe and will return by mid-July, after which goods can be taken to Japan and South Korea to the east by sea, via the port at Vladivostok, Russia that borders the city of Suifenhe, Heilongjiang.

Tu added that the rail service has unique advantages in sea-land transportation and commercial value and that it is safer than by sea, and more reasonable in cost than air freight.

Some German states, such as Bavaria and Lower Saxony, say they hope to cooperate with the company, and railway operators in France and Switzerland say they are willing to discuss business deals by extending the reach of the train, which makes the run once a week. It can transport goods from major cities and ports in China, Japan, and South Korea, and European countries such as Germany, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Spain and Italy.

The train is expected to transport about 2,296 standard containers with a value of 1.7 billion yuan ($273.84 million) and total import-export value of 4.28 billion yuan, by the end of this year. And, next year, it will make 52 trips and carry a total of 4,264 standard containers with a value of 3.5 billion yuan and total import-export value of 8.8 billion yuan, or almost double this year’s amount.

The company says it has cooperation agreements with large manufacturers, including the world's largest electronics contractor Foxconn, and Germany’s automotive brands Benz and Audi and it has plans to build an international logistics base in Yekaterinburg, Russia to grow into a multinational logistics company with business in Europe and Asia via sea-land transportation.