Lifeline made of iron in western China

"That's where my family's farm used to be," he says.

When the line was laid, industry came with it, and for Zhang the rhythm of life on the land gave way to the rhythm of the rails.

His small patch of crops and his family's thatched-roof home were demolished to make way for new infrastructure. In exchange, the government gave him two new apartments, and he got a job loading goods for a logistics company that specializes in rail freight.

"I used to make 1,000 yuan to 2,000 yuan a month farming," he says. "It was hard work, and it was difficult to support my parents, sister, wife and child on that money."

Zhang earns about 3,000 yuan to 4,000 yuan a month now, still relatively low by east coast standards, but more than sufficient in western China, he says.

"For me, life is much better now. I can easily afford to buy meat and baijiu (liquor). My family's life is a lot better, too."

Chen Jie is the general manager of logistics for Chengdu Hatrans YHV Intermodal Logistics, the company that operates the freight train between Chengdu and Lodz.

From a slow start in early 2013 the service is now picking up speed, he says. Since the train's maiden run it has done 76 trips. The total value of cargo carried is $573 million, and the total weight is 21,255 tons. About 76 percent of the train's capacity is used on average on each run.

"In peak seasons, we are full and there's no extra space," Chen says.

It is still early days, he says, and rail remains small fry compared with entrenched logistics options such as sea and air. But he is among those who strongly believe the potential is there, and says the train is already prompting new customers to set up shops in the region, or is allowing established businesses to expand their operations.

"The cost of rail sits between air and sea. It costs about $8,000 to transport each container (which holds about 25 tons) by rail from Chengdu to Europe. We are looking for customers who have a product that is time sensitive, but can't be too expensive to transport, customers who, if they use air, can make delivery on time, but not under cost, and if they use sea, they can make the delivery by cost, but not within time."

At the moment, Chen says, the train is primarily carrying completed and half-finished computers, cars, mechanical spare parts, textiles, shoes, kitchenware and home fittings.

Peng Chao contributed to this story.