What is the longest freight train rail line in the world as of February 2016?

In February 2016, the first cargo train to travel on the longest rail route in the world returned home. On November 18, the train departed Yiwu in eastern China, a major wholesale center for small consumer goods, and passed through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, France and finally Spain. The entire round trip was approximately 16,000 miles on the new Yixin'ou railway line, which ends in the Spanish capital Madrid.

The new railway route (Yixin'ou) is the longest in the world, longer still than Russia's famous Trans Siberian Railway linking Moscow to Vladivostok, near Russia's border with China. The Yixin'ou train used 82 shipping containers to transport goods made in Zhejiang province, including spinning tops for children and cutting tools. This train went to Spain and then returned to China with wine, olive oil and cured ham.

Speaking at a ceremony when the train arrived in Madrid, Li Qiang, the governor of China's Zhejiang province where Yiwu is located, said the route was important to 'implement the strategy of developing a new 'silk road'. Also, China truly knows that the new rail route to Spain will greatly support its regular direct freight train service to Germany, Europe's largest economy.

Before the Yixin’ou line was opened, goods traded between Europe and China depended on inefficient sea or air transport, meaning higher prices in Europe.