Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency related toimpacts caused by the Russia – Ukraine conflict, Vuong Kha Son, head of the VNR’s transportdepartment said the transport of goods to Europe transiting Russia also faces the same problem, but freight transport from Vietnam to Russia willnot be affected.
According to the VNR, the director general of the InternationalUnion of Railways (UIC) has sent letters to its members to inform that UIC had suspended the membership of Russia and Belarus. This means that the Russian and Belarusian railways cannot participatein the union’s activities or benefit from its services.
Vietnam initially planned to organise a train to transport containers fromthe central city of Da Nang to Europe in early March but the plan has been shelveddue to the conflict.
Currently, railway freight transport between Vietnam andChina still remains normal, with high volume of container transport from China toVietnam.
Statistics of the VNR show nearly 1.16 million tonnes of goods were transported abroad by trains in2021, surging 34 percent compared to the same period last year.
Of note, the Dong Dang railway station of thenorthern border province of Lang Son witnessed increases of 82 percent in thevolume of goods in the fourth quarter oflast year.
Vu AnhMinh, Chairman of the Board ofMembers of the VNR said the railway sectorwill shiftto freight transport in the coming time to compensate for the decline inpassenger transport, focusing on promoting international transportation betweenVietnam and China, and to third countries such as Russia and those in Europe and Central Asia.
Last year, VNR launched a direct railway route from Vietnam to Belgium,and trains transporting containers to China’s cities, Minh said./.
VNA
