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By Tang Guhan

The Sino-Europe freight train, namely the China Railway Express, as a crucial part of the Belt and Road Initiative, reached 10,000 trips Sunday.

Initiated in 2011, the freight service has been developed rapidly in recent years, especially in 2017. The trips of the train surged by 116 percent to 3,693 journeys last year, exceeding its aggregated number for the past six years.

It maintained a robust growth momentum in the first half of the year. The trips increased by 69 percent to 2,490 journeys for the same period a year earlier.

The types of freight have expanded from single electronics to clothing, auto parts, food, wines, home appliances and other value-added products.

Compared with air transport, the express train has saved us up to 200 billion yuan a year for users, said Shen Qing, the traffic manager from one of the customers of the Sino-Europe freight train, the Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable Joint Stock Ltd. (YOFC).

The YOFC is located in Wuhan City in central China. It usually takes around 45 days by air, but only 18 to 20 days were needed by rail related deliveries.

Moreover, Sino-Europe freight train has offered a stable solution and facilitated in the sales of inventories, while air and water transportation could be frequently interrupted by weather and other uncontrollable factors, Shen said.

The train has earned fat profits as of now, said officials from the China Railway Wuhan Branch, "The freight fee for domestic routes is 10,000 yuan per container. The maximum capacity of 42 to 50 containers could earn around 450,000 yuan per trip."