News
Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) has announced it will launch a proving test in Myanmar aimed at implementing the nation's first rail transport of ocean containers.
As part of the plan, a trial run of the container train will be operated between the port of Yangon and Mandalay, the second largest city in Myanmar, using tracks of Myanmar Railways in the cooperation with the Myanmar government.
Containers discharged at Yangon will be loaded directly onto rail cars and leave the port on September 25, arriving in Mandalay the next day for delivery by truck to the consignee on the second day.
On the return leg, shipper's pack containers are scheduled to leave Mandalay on October 2, arriving at the port of Yangon the next day.
The train is composed of 15 cars, each capable of loading two 20-foot containers or one 40-foot container. Instruments to measure vibration and changes in temperature and humidity will be attached to two of the 15 cars to confirm that cargo is not being damaged.
In Myanmar, trucking accounts for the lion's share of cargo transport. But with inadequate roads, traffic jams, higher costs and over weight becoming chronic problems, building up of efficient freight rail transport system has become an important issue.
MLIT, as part of its Asian logistics pilot projects for the fiscal year 2014, will work to review the process and results of the trial transport in Myanmar. It also will look into the efficiency, punctuality and stability of the rail transport as well as collaborative activities with the shippers.
