(Yicai Global) April 25 -- Shanghai has launched 655 trains since March to help ferry imported goods that arrive by sea inland to keep supply chains humming as a new wave of Covid-19 brings much of the city to a standstill.

From the beginning of March, there has been a 42 percent jump in rail-sea transport volume from the same period last year, at 84,000 twenty-foot equivalent units, Yicai Global learned from the railway department.

Container throughput at Luchaogang, which is a key port and cargo railway terminal in the city’s Pudong district, reached a record high in March at 40,690 TEU, a 35 percent jump from normal volumes, Wang Mingwei, executive deputy general manager of Luchaogang hub, told Yicai Global.

An average of 880 trucks passed through Luchaogang each day in April, accounting for 90 percent of the city’s total. On April 15, 505 trucks were loaded at the railway station, a new high, and throughput is expected to reach 50,000 TEU this month.

Over 120 staff members have been staying at the terminal since the latest outbreak of Covid-19 to keep Luchaogang running 24 hours a day and to ensure the smooth delivery of goods in the region, Wang said.

Editor: Kim Taylor