First Chinese train to come through Riga

RIGA - Latvia is expecting the arrival of the firstcontainer train from Chinaat the Central Terminal of Riga port in a few days' time, as confirmed byrepresentatives of Latvijas Dzelzcels (Latvian Railway).

The container train China-Europe is carrying goods from Urumchi (China) to the German port city of Hamburg via Alashkanov/Dostik - Petropavlovsk- Zilupe - Riga.

According to information released by Latvian Railway, the pilot projectinvolves Chinese, Kazakh, Russian and Latvian railways, as well as businessstructures in Germany.LDz Cargo, a subsidiary of Latvijas Dzelzcels, is ensuring the containertrain's passage on the Eastern-Western transit rote from Zilupe to Riga.

The aim of the pilot project is to specify tariffs, time spent on the route,possible services and the efficiency of the train's schedule, as well as toassess the advantages of railway against sea traffic.

"The huge Chinese market opens up wide opportunities for development tothe Latvian transit business, so I hope the arrival of this container trainwill become a start for successful further cooperation," LatvijasDzelzcels head Ugis Magonis said in a statement to the press.

Latviais planning to develop container traffic, including transit through Latvianports. In 2007, throughput of TEO containers in Latvian ports rose by 1.8percent on year to 236,351 units. Most of them were reloaded at Riga port.