The Vietnam Railways Corporation (VNR) on February 21 started the first international freight transport train in the Year of the Dragon from Song Than station in Di An city in the southern province of Binh Duong to Zhengzhou in China’s Henan province.
The train, carrying Vietnamese farm produce, is scheduled to arrive in Zhengzhou after nine or 10 days, and there will be one such train per week.
The Song Than station is the largest of its kind in the southern region, while Binh Duong province is located in the southern key economic zone and among the most dynamic localities in the region, VNR General Director Hoang Gia Khanh explained the selection of Song Than for the ceremony.
Binh Duong has paid special attention to rail freight transport services, and gradually participated in goods export and import by trains to diversify its transport forms and improve its competitiveness.
In Vietnam, logistics account for 20 – 25% of agricultural product prices, as compared with only about 12 – 14% in other countries. Therefore, such services from Binh Duong to China help businesses halve the costs.
According to Khanh, the Ministry of Transport has rolled out projects to upgrade Song Than, whose annual capacity is expected to reach 3.5 million tonnes during the 2025-2030 period, becoming the biggest of its kind nationwide.