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On the occasion of the visit of China's President Xi, a freight train from China arrives in the port of Duisburg (2014)
Photo: Federico Gambarini / dpa
Deutsche Bahn is suffering from the corona crisis, at least in passenger transport.
Passenger numbers have plummeted by up to 90 percent and debts are climbing by many billions.
Freight traffic has also been making losses for years.
But there is also one route that has developed into a real success story during the pandemic, a very special one.
Last year, 12,000 trains with a total of 200,000 containers ran on the route between China and Europe - 3,000 trains more than in 2019. Deutsche Bahn, whose freight transport division is recording high losses overall, expects to reach half a million container units by the middle of the decade to crack, says Sigrid Nikutta, the board member responsible for freight transport.
Protective masks, auto parts, electronics and coolants are currently rolling through Siberia.
"This year, lithium-ion batteries and electric vehicles will be added."
The trains run on the 11,000-kilometer route between Duisburg and Hamburg to the Chinese economic centers of Chongquing, Xi'an, Hefei and Zhengzhou.
The railway started in 2008 with a single train, now there are ten round trips per week.
In comparison, the train transports goods twice as fast as a ship and ten times cheaper than an airplane.
According to Deutsche Bahn calculations, it causes 95 percent fewer CO2 emissions than air freight.
Currently, capacities on the ships are fully booked.
In air traffic, there is a lack of freight transport via regular passenger planes.
Cargo planes are also experiencing a boom right now.
Lufthansa’s freight division is currently taking profits and reducing the group’s growing debt.
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