New measures hasten shipment of emergency supplies to Heihe residents

A train carrying 17 standard-sized shipping containers arrived at Heihe Station in Heilongjiang province at around 1 am on Nov 8 with 400 metric tons of fresh fruit for residents trapped by a recent COVID-19 outbreak.

From loading to arrival, travel time was reduced by at least 16 hours thanks to new measures, according to the China Railway Harbin Group.

Since the outbreak began in Heihe in late Oct, the provincial epidemic prevention and control headquarters has coordinated with assorted departments to provide the city with medical supplies, daily necessities, funding and emergency relief materials.

"On the morning of Nov 6, we received the order from the Harbin Commerce Bureau," said Dong Yunshan, director of the freight transportation department at Harbin East Railway Station.

"As soon as we found out the supplies were for Heihe, we opened a green channel and prioritized the search for empty carriages, registration procedures, the loading of goods, the assembly of the carriages and a transportation schedule."

A freight yard was then prepared to receive the goods, and by 5 pm on Nov 6, 400 tons of fresh fruit had been delivered by truck.

A group of about 50 workers then began to load the fruit onto the carriages.

"I had to work fast, because fruit doesn't stay fresh for long," Dong said. "So we assembled almost all the available workers from the station as well as from the nearby stations of Hulan and Acheng."

For the next 10 hours, they loaded the trains, finishing work at 3 am on Nov 7.

"Temperatures in Harbin had dropped below 0 and would drop even lower on the journey to Heihe, so we took measures to keep the carriages warm, including covering the fruit with tarpaulins and cotton quilts," he said.

The train left Harbin East Railway Station at 10 am on Nov 7 and arrived at its destination 13 hours later.

At around 7:30 pm on Nov 7, another freight train left Shuangyashan Station for Heihe carrying 80 tons of rice, flour and cooking oil.

"We gave it top priority and chose experienced workers to carry out the task," said Wu Yonggui, head of Shuangyashan Station. "It only took 11 hours to complete procedures and loading, ensuring a smooth delivery for Heihe residents."

As the supplies arrived in Heihe, the local government distributed them to residents.

"I received a large package, including vegetables, fruit, rice, flour and some instant foods, which will be enough for my family for several days," said Wang Miao, a local resident.

"The package brought us some warmth on a cold winter day. We are all confident we'll overcome the epidemic soon."