Beijing: A goods train from China has completed the world's longest rail journey as it reached Spain, covering a mammoth 13,000 kms across two continents.
The train which arrived in Madrid yesterday, its final destination, passed through seven nations in Asia and Europe after departing from China's international commodity hub of Yiwu on November 18 with 40 wagons, carrying 1,400 tonnes of cargo, consisting of stationary, craft products and Christmas market products.
It will return to China filled with luxury Spanish produce such as cured ham, olive oil and wine, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The results of this historic first journey which will be evaluated with the aim of opening a regular two-way rail link between China and Spain, which could commence operations in early 2015.
Two major advantages of rail travel are that the goods were transported much faster than would otherwise be possible by boat, arriving in Spain in half the time a cargo vessel would need to cross from China to Spain, while the train produces 62 per cent less carbon dioxide contamination than a lorry making the same journey by road.
The marathon journey crossed China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany and France, before arriving in Spain with 30 of the wagons it had originally set out with.
The 13,052 kilometres between Madrid and Yiwu is a greater distance than that between the north and south pole, although the entire distance was not covered using the same train crew, nor the same engine.
The engine was changed approximately every 800 kilometres, while the crew changed with each country the train traversed.
Special stops were necessary at the frontier cities of Dostyk (Kazakhstan), Brest (Belarus) and Irun (Spain) in order to deal with the different railway gauges encountered along the route.
