From Belarus to Kazakhstan: UTLC ERA moves first batch of empty flat wagons using electronic waybill
UTLC ERA, a joint venture of national railway companies of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and logistics provider of the Transeurasian container trains, has started a new pilot project to digitise its services. It dispatched the first batch of empty flat wagons from Belarus to Kazakhstan without paperwork. In the future, it is planned to apply electronic waybills for moving wagons with loaded containers on the entire New Silk Road between China and Europe.
On Tuesday, 9 November, the first digital shipment of empty flat wagons was sent from the Brest station on the Polish-Belarusian border towards the Kazakhstan stations of Dostyk and Altynkol, which are located near China. “The electronic waybill allows all participants of the transportation process to exchange data, receive timely information about the location of the cargo along the entire route,” UTLC ERA stated. With the help of this pilot shipment, the logistics provider intends to test the advantages of the electronic documents for developing container train services on the New Silk Road. “The transition to transportation using an electronic waybill on a track of 1,520-millimetre gauge is an additional incentive to promote paperless technologies on entire China – Europe – China route,” Alexei Grom, CEO of UTLC ERA, added.
Digital solutions
Besides the freight services of UTLC ERA, the national railway companies of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan are implementing their own digital solutions. In 2019 Russian Railways (RZD) put into operation the Intertran system for moving freight paperless. It even performed the test multimodal shipment from Yokohama to Hamburg using the mentioned system. As for Belarusian Railway, it introduced electronic waybills for moving transit empty wagons from Kaliningrad to mainland Russia and from Russia to Latvia via Belarus. Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ) has been using digital documents for the rail freight operations between Kazakhstan and Russia for several years. The railway undertaking is also planning to implement a similar solution for China-Kazakhstan rail shipments.