DHL launches multimodal service between China, Turkey

The forwarder established the Southern rail corridor, a multimodal service between China and Turkey that occupies a critical juncture within the Silk Road Economic Belt.    DHL Global Forwarding has established the Southern rail corridor, a multimodal service between China and Turkey that occupies a critical juncture within the Silk Road Economic Belt, DHL said.
   Freight departs from Lianyungang, China; traverses through Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as two sea transit segments; and arrives in Istanbul, Turkey, where it can be immediately forwarded by truck to any Turkish city.
   Transit time from Lianyungang to Istanbul takes approximately 14 days.
   The rail corridor is also supported by a contingency trucking service between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.
   The establishment of the rail corridor followed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between DHL and Kazakhstan’s national multimodal operator, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy Express, to strengthen rail connectivity between Europe and China via Kazakhstan’s commercial hubs.
   The new rail corridor complements DHL Global Forwarding’s three existing services via its north and west multimodal corridors, which recently expanded to connect Taiwan with Europe via China.
   “Trade between China and countries along the Silk Road has grown 19 percent every year on average for the past decade, and the establishment of One Belt, One Road will only further ignite these already-high volumes of economic activity,” DHL Global Forwarding China CEO Steve Huang said in a statement. “Turkey already counts China as its second-largest source of imports, and the EU as its largest export market. New corridors like the Lianyungang-Istanbul link will only further boost Turkey’s strategic importance and associated economic development as a conduit for trade between China and Europe.”