Japan studies advantages of Trans-Siberian Railway

TOKYO, February 28 (Itar-Tass) - A leased by the Japanese government
cargo train left on Sunday Russia's Vladivostok for Moscow to study
advantages of the Trans-Siberian Railway for transporting cargoes from
central Japan to Europe.
According to the Japanese Ministry of Land Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the experiment is carried out within the framework of a campaign to increase the efficiency of transportation. The Japanese authorities plan to use its results to propagandise advantages of the Siberian transport corridor for business of the central part of Japan.
A cargo of tile left the Japanese port of Hamada on January 27. On
February 8 it arrived in Russia's Vladivostok via the South Korean city of Busan. The train left Vladivostok for Moscow on Sunday. It is expected that the travel time will be about 30 days, against 50 days needed to transport cargoes from the port of Hamada to western part of Russia via the Indian Ocean and the Suez Canal.
Transportation by the Trans-Siberian Railway has been for a long time more expensive than transportation by sea. However, over the recent time Japan's business has been using the railway more and more actively, as it takes less time.
In particular, Japanese car manufacturers send by the railway ready products as well as car components.