Railway freight volume completed nearly 1.7 billion

　 The national railway freight volume continues to accelerate. In the first half of 2020, the national railways sent a total of 1.695 billion tons of cargo, an increase of 3.61% year-on-year, and the growth rate reached the highest in the first half of the year; among them, 305 million tons were completed in June, an increase of 7.77% year-on-year. China National Railway Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as 'China Railway Group') released data on July 8 showing the above content.

An official from the China National Railway Group told reporters that although the growth rate of freight volume in the first half of the year continued to increase, and the bottom line target of 'the freight volume in the first half of the year should not be lower than the same period last year' was exceeded, there is still a huge gap between the current growth rate and the annual target 'The task of completing the annual cargo volume target is still very arduous.' He said.

On July 2, 2018, the former China Railway Corporation, the predecessor of China Railway Group, formulated the '2018-2020 Freight Incremental Action Plan' (hereinafter referred to as the 'Three-year Action Plan'). By 2020, the national railway freight volume will reach 3.718 billion tons. This means that in the second half of 2020, China Railway Group's freight volume will have to complete 2.023 billion tons, with a year-on-year growth rate of 12.14% to complete the target. If the freight volume in the first half of the year is less than 4% and the growth rate of 7.8% in the whole year of 2019, it is more obvious that the railway freight market will be under pressure in the second half of the year.

In the first quarter of 2020, the first April and the first May, the national railway freight volume was 824 million tons, 1.091 billion tons and 1.390 billion tons, with year-on-year growth rates of 3.13%, 2.44% and 2.7%, respectively. Freight volume is gradually increasing.

According to the National Railway Group, in the first half of the year, the national railways had an average daily load of 152,600 vehicles, an increase of 3.4% year-on-year, setting a record. Among them, in June, the average daily load of vehicles was 166,900 vehicles, an increase of 8.17%; A total of 9.74 million TEUs and 196 million tons were sent, representing a year-on-year increase of 22.6% and 32.5% respectively. The contribution rate of containers to the increase in total freight transportation reached 82%. In June, 16 of the 18 railway bureau group companies across the country achieved a year-on-year increase in shipment volume, of which Shenyang, Xi'an, Jinan, Hohhot, and Urumqi Bureau Group Co., Ltd. increased by more than 10%.

　　 Bulk material transportation is the 'leading' railway freight transport, and coal is the top priority. Take China Railway Xi’an Bureau Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Xi’an Railway Bureau”) as an example. More than 78% of the company’s supply is coal. Since June, the daily loading of Xi’an Railway Bureau has been continuously above 10,000 vehicles. In the first five months of this year, the Haoji Railway drove an average of 13 trains per day, and the average number of trains reached 18 in June.

In terms of China-Europe trains, in the first half of the year, China-Europe trains opened a total of 5,122 trains, a year-on-year increase of 36%; shipping containers were 461,000 TEUs, a year-on-year increase of 41%; the number of trains opened in a single month set a record for four consecutive months, reaching 1,169 in June , A record for the highest number of lines opened in a single month.

　　 Since 2012, due to the impact of the macro economy, the downward trend of national rail freight has become increasingly apparent. From 2012 to 2016, the national railway freight volume decreased by 1.8%, 0.4%, 4.7%, 11.6% and 2.36% respectively. In 2016, the railway freight volume was only 2.65 billion tons, reaching the lowest point.

　　 In 2017, the former Ministry of Environmental Protection began to vigorously promote the shift from road automobile transportation to railway transportation. This policy has become an important boost for railway cargo traffic. In 2017, the national railway freight volume reached 2.918 billion tons, an increase of 10.1% over the previous year. Not only did it exceed the 2.75 billion tons planned at the beginning of the year, but it was also the first increase in freight volume in six years.

　　 After the formulation of the 'Three-year Action Plan' in 2018, the national railway freight volume completed 3.191 billion tons that year, an increase of 9.3% year-on-year. It will continue to grow to 3.44 billion tons in 2019. The 'Three-year Action Plan' also stated that by 2020, the proportion of bulk cargo transportation in the total railway freight volume will remain stable at more than 90%. This means that the focus of railway freight development has returned to bulk transportation.

　　 In terms of passenger transportation, in June, there were 6,829 passenger trains on the whole route every day, an increase of 422 from the previous month; the average daily passenger number was 5.44 million, an increase of 450,000 from the previous month, an increase of 9.1%. (Reporter Lu Bingyang)