Chapter 58 Travel the World on a Rail Ferry

The rail ferry is one of the plans concretized in the vision to connect the Korean peninsula to the mainland.When I visited North Korea in 2002, I also discussed with Chairman Kim Jong Il the issue of crossing the railway on the Korean peninsula. Although he promised to help complete the connection of the east coast line, this plan is still opaque due to the North Korean nuclear crisis. dream. A logistics revolution is taking place in every part of the world, dividing and connecting regions into one, when on earth are we going to improve relations with North Korea?While I was thinking about what method was needed, I heard that the rail ferries linking China to Europe had started.Rail ferries are a way of using trains to cross the sea by boat to reduce transportation time.

I researched whether our country can also apply this railway ferry, and found that the possibility is quite high, and it can indeed reduce the logistics cost of our country. Even if there is a successful rail link between South Korea and North Korea, and the Trans-Korean Transrail to China and Trans-Siberia, rail ferries are still a way to shorten the distance to inland China. On the last day of my visit to China in November 2006, I arranged a trip to Yantai on the Shandong Peninsula.I have witnessed the railway ferry shuttle between Yantai on the Shandong Peninsula and Dalian, the three northeastern provinces, and I also hope to promote the possibility of railway ferry connections between South Korea and China.If the railway ferry connects from the west coast of my country to the inland of China, it can connect with the Siberia train in Dalian, and if it connects to Yantai, it can connect with the China train all the way to Europe.In other words, the Korea-China railway ferry is not only a cross-sea connection business between South Korea and China, but also a development business connecting the Korean Peninsula with Eurasia.

When we arrived at Yantai Port, we saw the railway ferry "China Railway Bohai No. 1" and trains carrying cargo waiting at the port.The railway ferry "China Railway Bohai No. 1" running between Yantai and Dalian has shortened the transportation distance by 600 to 1,000 kilometers compared with the past.The tour guide in Yantai explained to us in detail that "China Railway Bohai No. 1" can carry 50 trucks, 50 20-ton trucks, 20 ordinary cars at the same time, and can also accommodate 480 passengers. After the Yantai tour guide finished his explanation, the train carrying the goods began to drive into the ship.After the train boarded the channel connecting the port and the ship, it slowly entered the ship, and within a few minutes, the train had completely entered the ship and disappeared.The scene of a train full of goods entering the ship is really spectacular. Our group gave out admiration, watching the train that was originally running on the road gradually enter the ship, on the one hand, I thought it was amazing, and at the same time thought that if we To run the rail ferries shouldn't be a problem.

Heavy equipment and export items manufactured in South Korea are loaded on railway ferries and transported to China; raw materials such as wood and cement produced in China are also loaded on railway ferries and transported to the port of Incheon—these images naturally emerge in the in my head.In the future, after the official launch of China's western development, it is believed that railway ferries will be of great help to the Chinese export business of Chinese enterprises. Regarding the operation of railway ferries between China and South Korea, the Chinese side has shown a more positive attitude than us.China, which already operates railway ferries, must consider that if the route can be connected to South Korea, more benefits can be generated, and the cities that can be reached will become a springboard for trade with South Korea.Just look at Yantai and Weihai, two port cities on the Shandong peninsula, competing fiercely for rail and ferry connections to South Korea.

That night I had dinner with the leaders of the Yantai Municipal Party Committee.Yantai City said: "China and South Korea fly back and forth more than five times a day, and they are active. I hope that the railway ferry can be formally connected as soon as possible." Let me ignite the hope that South Korea and China will be closer to each other in the future." At the time of the dinner, it happened that Sun Yongchun, secretary of the Yantai Municipal Party Committee, was on a business trip to other regions to attend the special meeting.When I was about to leave Yantai after breakfast the next day, I was notified that Secretary Sun Yongchun arrived in the early morning after driving a seven-hour night train to see me.I was both touched and a little sorry to hear that he had traveled all night for me.

"In Yantai, there are 2,000 Korean companies and 20,000 Korean residents living here. I hope to see more exchanges between the two countries in the future. I think that if South Korea and Yantai are successfully connected by railway and ferry, the future exchanges will definitely be even stronger. Frequently. Hopefully the rail ferries will actually happen someday.” Secretary Sun Yongchun paid special attention to the railway ferry. As for the railway ferry will become the starting point for the construction of the Northeast Asian regional community and common development, China's Yantai is currently implementing it.