DHL and RCG extend Belt and Road network with Chengdu-Vienna direct route

DHL Global Forwarding and Rail Cargo Group (RCG), the freight division of the Austrian Federal Railways, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop an intermodal rail network between Austria and China which will “tap into” the rising trade along China’s Silk Road Economic Belt.

The latest route in DHL’s Asia-Europe-Asia multimodal network connects Chengdu to Vienna in just 15 days, spanning 9,800 kilometres and crossing six countries – China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, Slovakia and Austria.

Under the MOU, DHL Global Forwarding and RCG will work together to boost rail freight capacity and jointly develop alternative routes to existing China-Europe connections, building on RCG’s infrastructure and expertise on the trans-Kazakh routes of the Silk Road Economic Belt. DHL Global Forwarding will also provide door-to-door services including pre- and on-carriage trucking between Qingbaijiang and other parts of China; and between Vienna South Freight Centre, other European rail stations in its network, and customers’ final destinations for delivery.

In a statement issued yesterday (15 May), Christoph Wahl, Managing Director DHL Global Forwarding Austria, commented: “We are delighted with this new direct connection between Austria and China. Austria’s economic relations with China are growing steadily and at the same time Vienna is an important hub for trade flows to and from Eastern and Southern Europe.”