The Japan-Europe freight transport service will take Chinese railway to Europe as part of its new route in the spring of 2018 under the charge of Japanese logistics giant Nippon Express, according to Japanese media.

The three-section route consists of air or ocean shipping from Japan to China, Chinese railway to Europe and truck shipping to destinations in Europe, Nihon Keizai Shimbun reports.

According to the report, the new route will also use freight trains of China Railway Express running from China to Europe. The terminal stations include Shanghai, Wuhan in China and Hamburg, Duisburg in Germany.

The transportation will be reduced to 20 to 30 days, 10 days faster than by ocean shipping, and the cost is half the airfare after the new project takes effect.

Mainly used for carrying auto and motor parts, the new project is expected to transport 20 large containers per month to relieve transportation pressure caused by aircraft miniaturization.