A second train of the China-Nepal railway service will soon be launched. The train will depart from the Chinese province of Qinghai and arrive in the autonomous region of Tibet, where it will be picked up by truck to continue to Nepal. The rail-road journey takes 6 days in total.

The Qinghai-Nepal corridor was launched in December last year, with a successful first journey. The train departs from Haidong, and makes a 2,800-kilometre long journey to Shigatse in the autonomous region Tibet. Trucks then drop off the cargo in Kathmandu, describes news channel China Daily.

The cargo mainly includes daily necessities, medical materials and agricultural products. Together these amount to more than 1,000 metric tons of cargo valued at approximately 1.8 million yuan (257,855 euros).

Qinghai on the New Silk Road

The Chinese province of Qinghai is not only strategically located to connect the Hymalayan regions, but it is also a gateway on the New Silk Road. The first freight train linking the Chinese province to Europe departed in 2016, connecting the city of Xining to Antwerp in Belgium with cargo including Tibetan carpets, goji berries and other local specialties. Since then, Qinghai has become an important hub on the China-Europe route through Kazakhstan.