The first freight train to run from Britain to China was due to depart on Monday, carrying vitamins, baby products and other goods as Britain seeks to burnish its global trading credentials for when it leaves the European Union.
The 7,500-mile journey from eastern England to eastern China will take three weeks, around half the time needed for the equivalent journey by boat. The first freight train from China arrived in Britain in January.
The train will leave a depot at Stanford-Le-Hope in Essex for Barking in east London, before passing through the Channel Tunnel into France and on to Belgium, Germany, Poland, Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan.
Britain is seeking to enhance its trade links with the rest of the world as it prepares to leave the EU in two yearsโ time.
โThis new rail link with China is another boost for global Britain, following the ancient Silk Road trade route to carry British products around the world,โ said Greg Hands, a British trade minister.
Run by Yiwu Timex Industrial Investment, the Yiwu-London freight service makes London the 15th European city to have a direct rail link with China after the 2013 unveiling of the โOne Belt, One Roadโ initiative by Chinese premier Xi Jinping.
Among the goods being transported to China are soft drinks, vitamins, pharmaceuticals and baby products.
โThis is the first export train and just the start of a regular direct service between the UK and China,โ Xubin Feng, chairman of Yiwu Timex Industrial Investment Co., said.
โWe have great faith in the UK as an export nation and rail provides an excellent alternative for moving large volumes of goods over long distances faster.โ
