Multi-department joint issuance of action plans to promote the high-quality development of iron-water combined transport
Railway and waterway join hands to reduce logistics costs and increase efficiency (policy interpretation).
Promoting the adjustment and optimization of the transportation structure is the proper meaning of accelerating the construction of a transportation power and building a modern comprehensive transportation system. As an important breakthrough, multimodal transport represented by iron-water combined transport is entering a stage of rapid development under the continuous strengthening of policies and the efforts of business entities.
Recently, the Ministry of Transport and other departments jointly issued the Action Plan for Promoting the High-quality Development of Iron-Water Intermodal Transport (2023-2025) (hereinafter referred to as the Action Plan), focusing on 4 specific tasks in 13 aspects, including improving the smooth level of intermodal transport and improving the efficiency of intermodal transport services, and putting forward the goal that by 2025, the container iron-water intermodal transport volume of major ports in the country will reach 1400 million TEUs, with an average annual growth rate of more than 15%. This means that the high-quality development of iron-water combined transport has entered the fast lane, and social logistics costs will be further reduced.
After years of development, what achievements have been achieved in China's iron-water combined transport? In what ways will the introduction of the action plan promote the high-quality development of iron-water combined transport? A few days ago, the reporter interviewed the relevant responsible persons of the Water Transport Bureau of the Ministry of Transport and related enterprises.
Last year, the national container iron-water combined transport volume increased by 16% year-on-year;
Multimodal transport is a transportation process that organically combines two or more modes of transportation such as roads, railways, waterways, pipelines, etc., and is jointly completed through mutual coordination, connection and conversion. As an important way of multimodal transport, iron-water combined transport refers to efficient combined transportation by rail and waterway.
"In terms of medium and long-distance transportation of bulk goods and containers, railways and waterways have large volume, low cost, low energy consumption and light pollution, and iron-water combined transportation can give full play to this comparative advantage and combined efficiency, reduce energy consumption and pollution emissions while reducing costs and increasing efficiency." The relevant person in charge of the Water Transport Bureau of the Ministry of Transport said.
Taking Ningbo Zhoushan Port as an example, through the development of iron-water combined transportation business, the southwest province has a fast passage to the sea to North America, South America and other regions. The time of foreign trade containers transported from Chongqing to Ningbo Zhoushan Port has been shortened from 58 days of traditional water transportation to 50 hours, and the logistics cost is reduced by nearly <>% compared with road transportation.
Not only that, compared with road transportation, the energy-saving and emission-reduction effect of iron-water combined transportation is more obvious. Zhang Zhoulong, deputy director of the Sea Rail Center of the Business Department of Ningbo Zhoushan Port Co., Ltd., said that last year, Ningbo Zhoushan Port completed 145.2 million TEUs, saving 9200 million liters of fuel, equivalent to saving 10.7 billion yuan, and reducing carbon emissions by 26,650 tons, equivalent to <> square kilometers of new forest area.
This is a vivid epitome of the in-depth advancement of China's iron-water combined transportation. The relevant person in charge of the Water Transport Bureau of the Ministry of Transport said: "After years of development, China's iron-water combined transport has entered a period of rapid development, and the growth momentum and development advantages have gradually emerged. ”
The total volume of transportation is growing rapidly. During the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, the national port container iron-water combined transport volume increased from 236.687 million TEU at the end of the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" to 23.8 million TEU, with an average annual growth of 2022.875%. In 16, the national container iron-water combined transport volume will be <>.<> million TEU, a year-on-year increase of <>%, much higher than the growth rate of national freight volume.
The transport structure continues to adjust. At present, all major coastal ports have changed coal collection ports to railway and waterway transportation, and the proportion of ore railway and waterway port evacuation in major coastal ports in 2020 will increase by nearly 2017 percentage points compared with 20, which not only effectively promotes the logistics industry to reduce costs and increase efficiency, but also helps energy conservation and carbon reduction.
Infrastructure is being connected faster. During the "26th Five-Year Plan" period, the Ministry of Transport and relevant departments used the vehicle purchase tax funds to support the construction of 80 collection and distribution railway entry projects. At present, the railway entry rate of major coastal ports and major ports on the Yangtze River trunk line in the country exceeds <>%.
Improve the freight rate adjustment mechanism and promote the openness and exchange of information
Iron-water combined transport, the key lies in "linkage". How to further improve the level of infrastructure connectivity and the efficiency of transportation organization is an urgent problem that needs to be solved when iron-water combined transportation reaches a new level.
On the one hand, the cost of intermodal transportation of some lines is high, and the lack of market competitiveness needs to be improved. "There are many sea-rail intermodal links and high costs, of which railway costs are the main component, especially the space for the reduction of freight rates of cross-road bureaus is small, which affects the economic benefits and market competitiveness of port enterprises to a certain extent." Zhang Zhoulong introduced.
Liu Hong, director of the business department of Hebei Port Group, said that it is necessary to implement a flexible railway price adjustment strategy and freight settlement system, fully combine the price changes in the automobile and shipping markets according to the specific shipment type, route and flow direction, timely and quickly adjust the railway shipping price, and promote the formation of a comparative advantage of iron-water combined transport.
In this regard, the action plan proposes to improve the market price system and study and improve the railway freight rate adjustment mechanism. Encouraging railways, ports and shipping enterprises to implement preferential prices for iron-water combined transport will provide guidance for promoting iron-water combined transport to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
On the other hand, the difficulty of sharing road port data restricts the seamless connection of molten iron. "At present, there is still a problem of information exchange between sea-rail combined transport, especially the difficulty of sharing data on the 'last mile' connection between iron and public water." Zhang Zhoulong said that because the system has not yet been interconnected, the port can only grasp the railway information of the container, and once the container enters the inland station, it cannot be queried, and no effective information closed loop has been formed.
Liu Hong suggested that the comprehensive service capability of the intermodal mode can be improved by strengthening the joint cooperation of shipping, railway, highway and other industries, and jointly promoting the construction of intermodal transport information platform through the establishment of information interfaces and open sharing of resources.
In this regard, the action plan proposes to promote the in-depth application of 5G, Beidou navigation, big data, artificial intelligence, etc. in the railway and water operation industry, and promote the openness and interoperability of customs, maritime, railway, port, shipping and other information. "This has strong practical significance for improving the informatization level of iron-water combined transport business, improving the comprehensive transportation efficiency of iron-water combined transport, and shaping the advantages of iron-water combined transport services." Liu Hong said.
At the end of the "2020th Five-Year Plan", the volume of container iron-water combined transportation doubled on the basis of <>
In order to accelerate the high-quality development of iron-water combined transport, the action plan specifies a series of goals by 2025, including full coverage of major ports and railways on the Yangtze River trunk line, and the railway entry rate of major coastal ports will reach about 90%; The proportion of major coastal ports using waterways, railways, etc. to transport bulk goods has reached 80%.
"The arrival of the main ports and railways of the Yangtze River trunk line to achieve full coverage of iron-water combined transportation means that the railway and water transport networks of the Yangtze River trunk line will be basically connected, the 'last mile' problem will be greatly alleviated, and the logistics channel of the Yangtze River will be further smoothed." The relevant person in charge of the Water Transport Bureau of the Ministry of Transport said that this will lay a solid foundation for supporting the development of China's Yangtze River Economic Belt, smoothing domestic and international circulation, and building a unified national market.
In addition, the container iron-water combined transport volume of major ports in the country will reach 2025 million TEUs by 1400, which means that the container iron-water combined transport volume will double on the basis of 2020 at the end of the "15th Five-Year Plan", with an average annual growth rate of <>%, when the network of iron-water combined transport facilities will be more perfect, social logistics costs will be further reduced, transportation services will be more efficient, and the transportation structure in key areas will be more optimized.
According to reports, relevant departments will establish a tracking and scheduling mechanism for key projects to accelerate the seamless connection of iron-water combined transportation infrastructure. It includes 74 collection and distribution railway projects, with a planned investment of 1708.1 billion yuan and a total mileage of 1645.2 kilometers of port collection and distribution railway.
Han Xin, reporter of this newspaper