Old NE China Railway Freight Yard Getting a Makeover This Year

A renovation project at the Binjiang Railway Station freight yard in the city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province, is expected to finish by the end of November, according to local news portal on July 1, with 19,000-square–meters of new warehouse space, better roads, communication, power supply, information technology, and water supply.

The yard, built with the station, dates back to 1934 and simply cannot meet the growing demand with its inferior infrastructure and facilities. One of the difficulties with the renovation project is to keep the construction work from disturbing yard operations, explained a construction company representative.

The company has divided the construction area into two parts – a 30,000-sq-m distribution area where cargo can be sent on to its destinations without any delays, and a 60,000-sq-m ordinary lot, where unloaded cargo can be held awhile before delivery.

The fast distribution area has been built and construction work on the other part has started. When it’s completed, the yard is expected to be able to handle more than 2,000 tons of cargo a day, or 500 tons more than before the renovation project. The Binjiang Station will be the province’s largest logistics center, according to Liu Ze, the railway station’s Party secretary.

Liu went on to say that the yard will have more high-tech facilities to cut labor costs and attract even banks and supermarkets to open branches, the better to serve customers.