Freight forwarder Davies Turner has introduced a more direct LCL rail route from Wuhan in China to the UK.

Until Davies Turner improved the service, containers have gone from Wuhan via Kazakhstan and Belarus to Warsaw from where UK consignments were transhipped and trucked via Dover to Davies Turner’s hub in Dartford.

The new route now takes them from Wuhan to Duisburg in Germany where they are moved by truck to Rotterdam and then by ferry to Purfleet near Dartford. This reduces the time from Wuhan rail hub to Dartford depot transit time to between 22 and 24 days.

Tony Cole, head of supply chain services, says: “This new more direct method of moving the container from Wuhan to the UK will remove the current need to unload the container in Poland, then reload into a trailer, which will enable us to offer a lower rate to the market, and reduce the possibility of delays, as well as strengthening security.”