Rail-ly cool: The Asean Express train arriving at the Kontena Nasional Inland Clearance Depot, Jalan Kelang Lama, Kuala Lumpur, for the inaugural Selangor-Chongqing-Selangor round trip. — SIA HONG KIAU/The Star
PETALING JAYA: Malaysian durians will “board” the Asean Express to China, a newly-launched rail link connecting the country to the Middle Kingdom, Thailand and Laos.
“It takes nine days for a one-way trip from Malaysia to China,” Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) chief operating officer Mohd Zain Mat Taha said yesterday during the arrival of the inaugural Selangor-Chongqing-Selangor round trip made by Asean Express.
This is a faster journey compared to the sea route of 14 to 21 days.
The train, carrying 20 wagons each with a 40-foot container, had started its journey from Kontena Nasional Inland Clearance Depot in Seri Setia here on June 27.
During its outbound journey, the train transported food products to Thanaleng in Laos, and China.
On its inbound trip, the train transported sodium sulphate from China, which will be used to make detergents.
The Asean Express is touted to be a more economical mode of transportation compared to shipping by sea, and allows for convenient transportation to inland destinations.
Datuk Tan Keng Choon, who is executive director of Masavan Logistics, one of KTMB strategic partners for the Asean Express, said the durian transportation by rail is in the pipeline.
Transportation by rail would either be frozen fruits or those that were harvested before they had ripened.
“We have the capability to transport frozen durians, but we are also discussing with other businesses to come up with another way to transport them,” he said.
One of the ways is to gather the durian before it ripens.
These durians can withstand transportation for up to 10 days, he said.
“We are thinking of ways to transport it through rail, so the durians will be ripe upon arrival in China,” he said.
Tan said they were engaging with Thai authorities about the transportation of durians and other fruits to China.
Transportation of fruits by rail would shorten the time needed and this would ensure their freshness, he said.
KTMB corporate planning head Abdul Salim Shah Abdul Aziz said there were time slots every day for the rail trip to China and back.
“At the moment, we are anticipating two to three trips a month, but as the service grows, it will be a daily trip,” he said.
He also said that there were no restrictions on the products, as long as they could be transported by rail and were permitted to cross borders.
This includes chemical products, food and fruits, he said.
He also said that they were expecting more inland ports nationwide to transport their goods via the Asean Express.
“There is one in Segamat (Johor), Ipoh and also in Perlis,” he said.
“These ports are important terminals for us to pick up these containers along these hubs and move across to Thai, Laos and China,” he said.
