First 'Silk Road' train from China to Britain arrives in London after a marathon 7,500-mile journey
- Train pulled in to Barking in East London after an 18-day journey from Yiwu
- It passed Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France
- The arrival marking a fresh milestone in China's push to build commercial links across Europe and Asia
The route known as the 'Silk Road' once helped bring a wealth of goods from China to Europe.
Today, the arrival of a freight train in east London has marked a new era for the 2,000-year-old trading route.
It is the first freight train service from China to the UK.
The train pulled in to Barking after an 18-day journey from Yiwu, a wholesale market town in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang.
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It had passed through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France, finally crossing under the English Channel into Britain.
The consignment would have taken nearly twice as long to reach Britain by sea.
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Laden with 68 twenty-foot equivalent containers, the train brought in a cargo of small commodities including household items, clothes, fabrics, bags, and suitcases.
Ten containers were taken off at the German hub of Duisburg.
The remainder arrived in London at Barking's Eurohub freight terminal.
A fanfare of costumed dancers, drummers and choreographers posing as Chinese dragons welcomed the inaugural service alongside members of the Chinese embassy and trade representatives.
A number of different locomotives and wagons were used as the former Soviet Union states have a larger rail gauge than the other countries involved.
China Railway already has freight services to a number of European destinations, including Hamburg and Madrid.
They are part of China's One Belt, One Road programme of reviving the ancient Silk Road trading routes to the West, initially created more than 2,000 years ago.
Run by Yiwu Timex Industrial Investment, the Yiwu-London freight service makes London the 15th European city to have a direct rail link with China after the 2013 unveiling of the 'One Belt, One Road' initiative by Chinese premier Xi Jinping.
The service is faster than sending goods by sea. Weekly trains will initially be run to assess demand.
Prime Minister Theresa May has said the relationship with China remains 'golden' as she seeks to bring in billions of dollars in Chinese investment as Britain prepares to leave the European Union.
Mike White, group operations director of Brunel Project Cargo, which is involved in the London service, told Railway Gazette: 'The new service has a very quick transit time.'
He added: 'We believe this is going to change the way a lot of forwarders and shippers view their imports and exports for China.'
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