Action plan to shift bulk cargo from roads to rail, waterways

China aims to significantly increase the proportion of railway and waterway freight in its transportation structure, according to an action plan released by the State Council General Office on Oct 9.

The country will further supply-side structural reform in the transport sector and prioritize efforts to switch the transportation of bulk cargo from roads to railways and waterways in the next three years.

In 2020, the railway freight volume will increase by 1.1 billion metric tons from that of 2017, while the waterway freight volume will rise by 500 million tons, the plan said. Meanwhile, the highway freight volume in coastal ports will drop by 440 million tons from that of last year.

The program will be mainly implemented in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surrounding areas, the Yangtze River Delta region, and the plains of Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces. These regions are key to China’s battle against air pollution.

To reach the goals set in the plan, China is expected to increase railway capacity, upgrade its water transportation system and better regulate highway freight transport.

The country will also encourage greater synergies between transportation models, especially road and rail transportation, as well as promote the use of new energy transport vehicles.