Three freight trains with a speed of 120 kilometers per hour respectively departed from three Chinese cities on Monday, marking the country's official launch of cargo express trains.
One of the expresses departed from Langfang City in north China's Hebei Province with 43 containers, and is going to arrive in Changping Station in south China's Guangdong Province in over 30 hours.
"The route between (Hebei Province's) Guangyang District to (Guangdong Province's) Changping Town stretches 1,750 kilometers. The maximum speed of the train can reach 120 kilometers per hour. We set the price close to that of the road transportation, which is roughly the same," said Zhang Wansheng, deputy director of China Railway Beijing Group's freight transport department.
The cargo express trains mainly travel between economically developed areas, such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, the Yangtze River Delta and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
There will be six lines, with all of them using container marshaling.
Clients are able to check the price and available spots of the containers online, and make bookings based on their needs.
"After we book the spot for containers, a fleet of trucks is dispatched to load goods directly at our location. Let's calculate the costs, it saves us about 15 percent in transportation cost," said Hou Bin, a person in charge of a logistics enterprise in Shanghai.
China launches cost-effective cargo express trains
At least 2,985 Palestinians had been killed and 8,173 others injured since Israel renewed its intensive strikes, bringing the total death toll since October 2023 to 53,119, and injuries to 120,214, the Gaza-based health authorities said on Friday.
According to information released by the Civil Defense in Gaza on Friday, the Palestinian death toll from Israeli attacks in the northern Gaza Strip has surpassed 100 during the past 12 hours.
In a statement later in the day, the Gaza health authorities confirmed that at least 109 deaths and 216 injuries had been transferred to hospitals on Friday.
Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for the Civil Defense in Gaza, said in a statement that it was "a difficult and bloody day for the northern Gaza Strip."
According to Palestinian medical sources, most of the victims were women and children.
Eyewitnesses and security sources reported that Israeli air and ground raids continued unabated since the early hours of the morning, targeting residential homes and shelters in Jabalia and Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. Some victims remain under the rubble where medical crews were unable to reach, they added.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Friday that with the direction of intelligence, its troops are continuing their operational activity against the militant groups in the Gaza Strip, striking "over 150 terror targets" across the territory, including anti-tank missile posts, terrorist cells, military structures, and operational centers.
Palestinian death toll in Gaza rises to 53,119
