Bac Giang province to launch rail cargo service to China

A train station in Bac Giang is set to launch an international cargo route connecting Pingxiang town in China's Guangxi province on February 20, Vietnam Railways reported on Tuesday while working with provincial authorities.

The Kep train station links Dong Dang station in Lang Son province, Luu Xa station in Thai Nguyen province, and Cai Lan station in Quang Ninh province, all in northern Vietnam. The station includes 1,200 square meters of two warehouse facilities and a loading area of over 30,000 square meters.

In the first phase, the route will run up to two trains a day on the Kep-Dong Dang-Pingxiang route on average, with a capacity of holding 80-100 containers or train carriages per day. The service is expected to deliver electronics, industrial goods, construction materials, industrial wood, and raw ore.

In the next phase, the operator will build a post-customs warehouse to serve import-export activities for businesses in Bac Giang, Bac Ninh, and nearby provinces. It is also set to deliver refrigerated containers from southern Vietnam to China. The workload is expected to increase by 2-2.5 double-track trains a day on average.

Vietnam Railways, the state-owned operator of all railways in Vietnam, proposed Bac Giang province enlarge the safety zone for the area connecting the Kep station to relevant nation highways in order to facilitate vehicles delivering goods to the station.

In reply, Bac Giang Chairman Le Anh Duong said the province is commited to facilitating the operation of the Kep station to help local businesses access the northern neighboring country and the province's growing industrial sector.

Bac Giang province, an emerging industrial hub in northern Vietnam, features 13 Samsung vendors, providing components for Samsung factories in nearby provinces of Thai Nguyen and Bac Ninh.

Hong Kong-based Yadea Technology Group Co. Ltd plans to build a $100-million electric motorbike manufacturing plant in Bac Giang under a memorandum of understanding signed with Tan Hung Industrial Park developer Lideco 1 JSC on January 7.

Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn, an Apple supplier, signed a deal last August to rent an additional 50.5 hectares of land in Quang Chau Industrial Park in Bac Giang. Foxconn plans to develop a new project with an investment estimated at some $300 million but did not disclose what it would manufacture.

Freight transport volume in Vietnam reached 202.8 million tons in January, up 5.4% month-on-month and 16.2% year-on-year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO). Railways accounted for 300,000 tons, down 24.8% year-on-year. Air cargo accounted for the smallest figure of 30,000 tons, while road transport made up the biggest portion of 160.1 million tons.