Boxes of Yichang tangerine freshly picked from the citrus orchards at Maduhe village, Yangping town, Yuan’an County were transferred meticulously into a mechanical insulated compartment of No.71392 through train for special procurement at the Zhijiang Station freight along Wuhan Railway. The unwaxed tangerine of 180 ton will be transported under Freezing Preservation to Erenhot frontier station in Inner Mongolia for 50-plus hours, where it will go through quarantine inspection. After being declared to the customs, it will transfer by international cold chain freight vans from Inner Mongolia to Krasnoyarsk, Russian and finally reaches Russian households.

　　The Tangerine were purchased and exported by Inner Mongolia Tend Da Commerce Co., ltd. Wang Zhigang, the head of the corporation said they have been selling Yichang Tangerine to Russia for more than a decade by road, which were transported to Manchuria and then along the Russian international bus route; but it is the first time to transport by railway.

　　Why does he venture to be the first man to try the “Yichang-Inner Mongolia-Europe” railway transportation “It was mainly due to the agreement of rail transit cooperation reached by the three parties in April this year. It means the railway wagons from Erenhot can directly pass through Inner Mongolia without unloading, inspection, customs clearance and loading,” Wang said. Moreover, since the distance of transportation from the place of origin to Erenhot is 1,800 km shorter than to Manchuria, and in addition, mechanical insulated compartments avail itself of good performance, it can efficiently cut losses and guarantee the South-grown fruit quality that they sell.

　　Which delivery method is more cost-effective, railway or road The bus transport of fresh and life farm products is entitled to enjoy the preferential policy of “green passage”, so the cost of the two methods does not vary much. But railway transportation is cheaper than road in Russia.

　　To ensure the success of this transportation, 30 working personnel and 4 forklifts are arranged on duty of 24 hours at the Zhijiang Station freight ready to load tangerine for early departure. Jiang Hua, the deputy director of Yichang Transport Logistics Development Bureau promised that this test run is just a beginning; when the route goes on the track of sound progress with increasing cargo volume in the future, the corresponding supply and other supporting services will be updated to sell more Yichang agricultural by-products abroad on the express “Yichang-Inner Mongolia-Europe” railway transportation. (Reporter Wang Weidi)