This year's first high-speed special train G568 carrying fresh lychees from Maoming departed from Guangzhou Baiyun Station on June 5, marking the opening of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area's agricultural cold chain high-speed express.

Lychees are transported onto the high-speed special train G568. [Photo/WeChat account: gz_baiyunfabu]

Lychees are challenging to preserve, as their color changes within a day and their flavor within three days. To address this, Guangzhou Railway Group, China Railway Express, and JD.com have collaborated to establish a comprehensive system utilizing the "land transport consolidation + high-speed rail express + dedicated escort" model.

This system utilizes "cold chain land transport" for centralized transportation, employing triple protective packaging, equipping train compartments with intelligent temperature and humidity monitoring devices, and featuring a professional escort team for real-time monitoring.

Lychees on the high-speed train can be delivered within half a day. [Photo/WeChat account: gz_baiyunfabu]

Through high-speed rail transport, the picking of lychees in Maoming to shelf placement in Wuhan can be completed in as fast as 24 hours, increasing efficiency by over three times compared to traditional land transport, with fresh fruit loss controlled within 5 percent.

Every day from June 5 to 22, Guangzhou Railway Group will operate two lychee special trains, G568 and G696, ensuring the transportation of over 8 metric tons daily from Maoming to Central China and allowing consumers in the region to taste fresh Lingnan lychees.

The opening of the lychee special train not only meets consumers' demand for high-quality fruits but also upgrades the Greater Bay Area's agricultural product supply chain, boosts the development of the lychee economy industry chain, and helps increase farmers' income and industry efficiency.