News2007
KWE and JSC Rail Trans Auto (Russia) Commence Joint Sales of a Finished Vehicle Transport Service. Transport of Finished Vehicles on the Trans-Siberian Railway
2007/12/19
Kintetsu World Express, Inc. ("KWE" Head Office: Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. President and CEO: Hirokazu Tsujimoto. Capital: 7,216 million yen) in partnership with JSC Rail Trans Auto ("RTA"), a subsidiary of Russian Railways, will commence joint sales of a service to transport finished vehicles manufactured in Japan on the Trans-Siberian Railway.
In line with the rapid economic development in Russia and Kazakhstan, in recent years the supply of Japanese manufactured vehicles has not been able to keep up with demand. At present the export route for finished vehicles from Japan to these markets is by sea on a specialized vehicle transport vessel to the port of Hanko in Finland, then overland by truck transport into Russia and by rail to Kazakhstan. Presently from the major Japanese ports to delivery in or around Moscow takes approximately 60 days and more than 70 days for delivery to one of Kazakhstan's major cities.
With the introduction of this new joint service by KWE and RTA, finished vehicles will be transported by sea on a specialized vehicle transport vessel to the port of Zarubino (located approximately 200km southwest of Vladivostok) and then from Zarubino to the major cities of Russia and Kazakhstan by the Trans-Siberian Railway. Utilization of this route will make possible the transport of finished vehicles to any of the major cities in these two countries in approximately 20 days. When compared to the traditional route via Finland, the number of days in transport will be dramatically reduced to 1/3 of the time previously required.
In line with a forecast increase in demand for finished vehicle transport, RTA, through the manufacture of new rolling stock to transport finished vehicles ("wagons"), is planning to increase the number of these wagons from the 2,000 presently owned by 3,000 to a total of 5,000 by 2010. These new wagons will be introduced from next spring at the rate of 100 wagons per month. (Vehicles per wagon 8-10)
KWE and RTA, on a block train* basis, plan to introduce a full transport service using these newly manufactured wagons by spring of next year.
With the Russian market for imported Japanese vehicles being approximately 300,000 units annually and future import demand in Kazakhstan also forecast to rapidly increase, KWE and RTA are expecting that demand for rail transport of finished vehicles will reach levels of between 30,000 to 50,000 vehicles annually. In order to respond to this demand KWE and RTA will in partnership continue to construct and develop their finished vehicle transport systems and infrastructure.
*Block Train---A railway transport method that ensures scheduled rail transport. For container transport, a minimum load of 100TEU (maximum of 140TEU) per train transport is required. However, depending on the type of wagons, the minimum load weights vary. For the transport of finished vehicles, a minimum of 30 specialized wagons is required.
