CHINA-CHONGQING-CHINA-LAOS-THAILAND RAILWAY-FREIGHT TRAIN-LAUNCH (CN)

(231229) -- CHONGQING, Dec. 29, 2023 (Xinhua) -- This aerial photo taken on Dec. 29, 2023 shows the first freight train of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor that runs via China-Laos-Thailand Railway waiting for departure at the Tuanjiecun Central Station in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. A freight train departed Friday morning from the Tuanjiecun Central Station in Chongqing for Map Ta Phut Station in Thailand, marking the opening of the first international freight train of New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor that runs via China-Laos-Thailand Railway. Loaded with 64 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers of chemicals, the train is scheduled to arrive in Map Ta Phut via Laos' Vientiane in 5 days. In the meantime, a freight train loaded with 30 TEU containers of agricultural products has set out from Map Ta Phut and is moving in the opposite direction. The new service shortens the transportation time between Chongqing and Thailand by nearly 20 days if compared with routi