The train Z316 from Chengdu arrived at Qingdao North Railway Station at 5:36 AM on September 10 with 240 cruise passengers onboard. Set to embark from Qingdao Cruise Terminal on a 5-day, 4-night voyage to Japan and South Korea, the tour group marked the first operation of the Southwest Sea-Rail Intermodal Corridor for cruise passengers, jointly launched by Shandong Port Cruises Development Group and the Qingdao Station of China Railway Jinan Group—a major breakthrough in integrating the railway system with port operations to build an innovative model of multimodal transport plus cruise services.
The Qingdao Cruise Terminal has struggled for years to expand its passenger base from inland areas, particularly along the southwest corridor. To tackle this challenge, Shandong Port Cruise Development Group and Qingdao Station of China Railway Jinan Group formed a joint task force aimed at removing bottlenecks and revitalizing the market in this regard, conducting on-the-ground research with travel agencies in Chengdu and other southwestern cities, as well as pinpointing core needs such as travel schedules and group sizes. Based on these findings, they introduced an innovative plan combining a curated transport capacity with end-to-end coordinated services.
Leveraging its rail network and hub service advantages, Qingdao Station tailored measures to the large-scale and concentrated nature of cruise travel, attaching 2 additional sleeper carriages to train Z316 to accommodate group bookings, along with the introduction of dedicated channels for cruise passengers at the Qingdao North Station with guided assistance and reserved parking, to create seamless transfers from train to coach to cruise ship and break traditional transport barriers, hence significantly improving passenger flow efficiency.
The collaboration between Qingdao Station and Qingdao Cruise Home Port has created an integrated rail-port service loop that offers inland travelers an affordable, comfortable, and efficient travel option, while building a 3-dimensional transport network that links the cruise hub to inland regions and extends its reach into the southwest. Looking ahead, both sides plan to institutionalize the sea-rail intermodal model and gradually expand it to northwestern, central, and southern provinces, further extending the reach of Qingdao’s sea-rail network.
