British logistics company Davies Turner is planning to restart its Express China Rail Service on March 15, departing from Xi'an in northwest China instead of its normal departure point of Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.

Containers are scheduled to arrive in Dartford, Britain, on April 6, a spokesman for the company said on Tuesday.

The service will operate a weekly schedule until Wuhan is out of lockdown, the company said in a statement.

The main problem has been getting cargo to the rail container freight station because of a shortage of trucking services, the spokesman said, as many truck drivers stayed at home after Chinese New Year.

"Things appear to be improving on that front this week and in anticipation of that continuing, Davies Turner has published its intended schedule for the restart of its Express China Rail Service," he said.

Davies Turner has operated a import rail service from China to Britain since 2016 with a capacity of around 42 containers per train for the weekly service.

The train travels through Kazakhstan and Russia to Duisburg in Germany and containers are then transported via truck and ferry to Dartford in southern Britain.

(Reporting By Sonya Dowsett; editing by Barbara Lewis) ((sonya.dowsett@thomsonreuters.com; + 34 91 585 8328; Reuters Messaging: sonya.dowsett.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))