In April 2020, Russian Railways began dispatching container trains along the Nizovka (Arkhangelsk Oblast) – Zabaykalsk route. The new container route means that transportation by sea can be avoided and the freight owner’s paper products delivered to the border land crossing in Zabaykalsk and then on to China itself.
The first container train arrived at Zabaykalsk station on 7May on schedule after 9 days en route. The shipment was organised for a branch of the Ilim Group Joint Stock Company in the city of Koryazhma.
The first container trains carrying paper have also been dispatched to China from Karelia. In April 2020, four trains loaded with products from the newsprint exporter Karelia Pulp LLC and the Segezha Pulp and Paper Mill were assembled at Nigozero and Segezha stations on October Railways. The cargo was loaded onto 308 containersand weighed more than 9,100 tons.
These trains will also proceed to the Zabaykalsk border crossing. The length of the route ismorethan 7,000km.
In May 2020, it is planned to dispatch 8 container trains loaded with the products of these enterprises to China.
In April 2020, a total of 22,400 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit (TEUs) containers loaded with paper were exported on the railway network owned by Russian Railways, 7.3% more than in the same month last year.