Recently, a freight train carrying 40 carriages of photovoltaic (PV) products departed from Yancheng North Station of the Nanjing Railway Logistics Center of China Railway Shanghai Group, bound for Bole East Railway Station in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. This marks the successful implementation of the first strategic cooperation agreement on headquarters-to-headquarters PV product transportation in the Yangtze River Delta region.

The headquarters-to-headquarters model refers to direct collaboration among large-scale companies or institutions through strategic cooperation agreements, enabling resource, information and market sharing and coordination. This model typically involves high-level collaboration, aiming for mutual benefits and win-win outcomes through deepened partnerships.

According to person in charge of the PV sector of the freight department of China Railway Shanghai Group, the railway authority will provide door-to-door logistics and transport solutions for Trina Solar Company under the strategic agreement. In 2025, a minimum of 400,000 tons of PV cargo will be transported, with 45% handled by rail. These PV products will primarily be used for domestic PV station construction and related exports.

In recent years, the Yangtze River Delta railway authorities have been promoting the “Railway+PV” green coordinated development initiative, leveraging the region’s extensive railway network to gradually shift more freight from highways to railways. “According to this PV transport initiative, the railway authorities have improved transport resource coordination and introduced a Five Priorities support mechanism that prioritized container allocation, loading, dispatching, unloading, and delivery. This expects to improve transportation efficiency by about 30%,” said Kong Qinghua, Marketing Manager at Nanjing Railway Logistics Center of China Railway Shanghai Group.