Shuo Huang Railway's freight volume for the first half of the year reached 190 million tonnes, exceeding the planned schedule by 1.882 million tonnes and representing a year-on-year increase of 9.939 million tonnes. This achievement marks the completion of 50.1% of the annual target, surpassing the halfway point for total transport volume.

Non-coal freight volume reached 11.2675 million tonnes, exceeding the annual plan by 67,500 tonnes. Notably, self-operated non-coal freight volume amounted to 1.7168 million tonnes, an overfulfillment of 316,800 tonnes, achieving the non-coal target of exceeding 50% ahead of schedule.

Shuo Huang Railway Development Co., Ltd. stated that the simultaneous overfulfillment of these two core indicators demonstrates the effective implementation of the National Energy Group's strategy, which is "coal-based with coordinated logistics," along the main corridor for transporting coal from west to east. It signifies initial results in the transformation of a single-purpose, heavy-haul energy corridor into a comprehensive multimodal logistics hub.

In the first half, Shuo Huang Railway's cargo turnover reached 103.73 billion tonne-kilometers, exceeding the schedule by 2.5% and improving 6% year-on-year. Multiple operational records were set in transport organization, including a daily record of 38 loaded trains received at Shengang Station, 239 empty trains dispatched at Shenchi South, and a monthly volume of 2.39 million tonnes on the Huangda Line, all reaching historic highs.

The simultaneous enhancement of transport capacity organization and construction support efficiency has freed up sufficient physical capacity for expanding diversified freight business. Leveraging the incremental carrying capacity gained from optimizing the transport chain, Shuo Huang Railway has been able to move beyond the limitations of traditional one-way coal transportation.

It has concurrently advanced market development for non-coal cargo sources, utilizing two-way reciprocal cargo flows to fill the gap of empty return trips, thereby implementing the group's comprehensive logistics transformation plan.

The company reported that by implementing a large crew rotation model across the entire line and dynamically adjusting locomotive routing, the total locomotive turnaround time was reduced by 0.6 hours year-on-year, and car cycle time was shortened by 0.01 days.

Construction and transport coordination were optimized simultaneously through an innovative management model of "extending sections and increasing time, coordinating for efficiency." Mechanisms such as one-window-one-case traffic flow control and joint port-station inspection and maintenance were implemented. In the first half, the maintenance window fulfillment rate reached 99.87%, and the construction plan fulfillment rate reached 99.94%. Freight volume during maintenance windows increased by 57,000 tonnes year-on-year, a 7% growth.

This series of optimization measures in transport organization and construction control has continuously released the existing line capacity. Following the increase in transport capacity space, the company simultaneously promoted the adjustment of its cargo source structure, making the activation of idle return-trip capacity a core focus for market-oriented source expansion.

A person from the freight field operations department of the company's logistics subsidiary stated that heavy-haul corridors in the industry have long suffered from the weakness of one-way transportation. Routes for moving coal from west to east are fully loaded on the outbound leg but return empty, limiting asset utilization and tightly linking operational revenue to coal market cycles.

The core concept of Shuo Huang Railway's large logistics layout is to establish a logistics pattern of "west coal east transport, north cargo south transfer, and two-way reciprocal flow." The goal is to fill return-trip capacity with non-coal cargo, creating a pendulum-like transport system. This approach helps spread out fixed line operation and maintenance costs and smooths out performance volatility caused by the coal industry cycle.

The source explained that the company has established a quarterly regular cargo source research mechanism to stabilize mature sources like iron ore powder, steel, and fuel oil, while simultaneously exploring cross-regional transport markets around the Bohai Rim.

New channels for oil product transport and for transporting semi-coke from Shaanxi to Shandong have been established. Regular fuel oil block trains now operate on the Huangda Railway, forming a complete "port-railway-refining park" logistics chain. The steel intermodal transport at Dingzhou West continues to grow in volume, and stable shipments of construction materials within the network directly support the supply of construction materials for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the Xiong'an New Area.

Network coordination serves as a crucial support for releasing incremental capacity. Multiple new incremental channels have been opened, including the Ningwu Xuyang crossing, the Lixian Power Plant dedicated line, and the Dongying Port diversion route.

In late May, the company opened a new channel for coal transshipment and unloading via Dongying Port, enhancing the Bohai Rim port-rail intermodal network. A domestically pioneered flexible traction power supply system for heavy-haul railways was put into operation, recovering regenerative braking energy from trains and saving an average of 42,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per day.

The improvements across the network and equipment levels have removed hardware obstacles for the cross-regional flow of non-coal goods, providing the foundational conditions for the stable operation of the two-way reciprocal logistics model.

The aforementioned source noted that traditional heavy-haul lines only served energy supply security with a singular business structure. Currently, bulk cargo transport for industries like steel, petrochemicals, and construction faces road transport restrictions, leaving ample market space for a shift from road to rail.

Through two-way reciprocal multimodal transport, the company handles cargo sources like imported ore powder from ports, inland steel, and construction materials. This approach both activates idle return-trip capacity and helps the real economy reduce logistics costs.

From a transaction structure perspective, the non-coal business has already formed a stable source of incremental support. The significant overfulfillment of self-operated non-coal volume proves the effective implementation of the market-oriented source expansion mechanism, reducing reliance on the company's own coal cargo sources.

Under the diversified cargo source layout, the line's risk resistance continues to strengthen. Even if the coal market experiences periodic fluctuations, transport volumes for categories like steel, oil products, and construction materials can offset potential total volume shortfalls, ensuring the smooth completion of annual freight targets.

Shuo Huang Railway Development Co., Ltd. is primarily responsible for the construction and operation of the Shuohuang, Huangwan, and Huangda railways, with a total operating mileage of 889 kilometers and an annual transport capacity of 380 million tonnes. It is one of the shortest, most optimal, and most economical transport routes connecting western China to the eastern coast, serving the Xiong'an New Area and integrating into the Bohai Rim economic circle. The company is a key subsidiary of the National Energy Group.