China railway opens a direct line to London, extending what China calls the New Silk Route.

中国铁路开通了去伦敦的线路，扩展了中国所谓的新丝绸之路。

A freight train departed for London from eastern Zhejiang province on Jan.1st.

一辆货运火车1月1号从东部的浙江省出发，开往伦敦。

The train service spans nearly 7500 miles, passing through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, and seven more countries before arriving in London, the fifteenth city on the route.

这条运线涵盖将近7500英里，在到达伦敦前，要路过哈萨克斯坦，俄罗斯，白俄罗斯和其他7个国家，伦敦是这条线上的第15个城市。

But it won’t be the same train the whole time.

但是全程不仅只用一辆列车。

Due to variants in railway gauges throughout the route, a single train is not capable of making the entire journey itself.

由于全程路段的变化，一辆列车无法独自行驶完全程。

The train is also only capable of carrying 200 shipping containers,according to Bloomberg, compared to 20,000 aboard a large cargo vessel.

据彭博社报道，相比于能承载2万个运输箱的货轮而言，列车只能够承载200个运输箱。

However, from start to finish, the railway trip is expected to take about 18 days.

但是，列车从浙江至伦敦只需18天左右。

To reach the same destination by sea, a large cargo vessel would need about a month.

而若通过海运到达伦敦，一艘货轮需要一个月左右的时间。

The BBC reports that China hopes expanding its railway will boost export rates, which have recently slowed.

BBC报道称中国希望通过铁路网的扩张增长其外贸额，最近，中国的外贸交易有所减缓。