Japan looks at Dalian to funnel cargoes onto the Trans-Siberian

Tokyo: The Trans-Siberian Intermodal Operators Association of Japan (TSIOAJ), a group of Japanese forwarders operating on the Trans-Siberian Railways (TSR), held a press conference this week, and revealed cargo volumes on the transcontinental rail line were down 37% year-on-year for the first eight months, due to more competitive ocean freight rates.
Tadakuni Shiomoto, chairman of TSIOJ, delivered a message from the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), stating that the two parties have come to an agreement regarding the establishment of a Japan-Russia public-private task force regarding the modernization of transport infrastructure. In addition to routes via Russian Far East ports, he also mentioned that routes via Dalian, China would be incorporated onto the Trans-Siberian to shift cargoes all the way to Hamburg and the Baltic. [28/10/09]