A single TEU loaded with cosmetic products from Russian company Red Line took 20 days to complete the journey, arriving in Hanoi on January 23. RZD Logistics says the equivalent journey by sea would have taken twice as long.

The test shipment was organised under the bilateral cooperation agreement signed between Russian Railways (RZD) and VR in July 2017, and according to RZD Logistics, this inaugural service marks the start of the Russia-Vietnam international transport corridor.

RZD Logistics was responsible for organising the multimodal shipment, beginning with road transport from Red Line’s warehouse, and continuing with the transfer to rail at Vorsino. RZD Logistics’ subsidiary Far East Land Bridge received the freight at the Manchuria-Zabaikalsk border point and supervised transport across China. Ratraco was responsible for the final stage of the journey across Vietnam.