ITI corridor to assume services as part of New Silk Road
Turkey, Iran and Pakistan want to revive services of the Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad train this year. Pakistan wants to connect this line with China’s Belt and Road network through Pakistan’s ML-1 railway line, the largest component of...Read more
CEVA sets up Jinhua-Dourges express to meet rising demand
CEVA Logistics has launched an express train service from Jinhua (China) to Dourges (France) to provide additional freight capacity for shippers amid unprecedented demand for transport and logistics services. Dourges serves as a transit point:...Read more
Panda-Sprinter connects port of Brake directly with Chongqing
A new service has been tested for the shipment of wood pulp from the German port of Brake to the Chinese hub of Chongqing. The new line is the product of cooperation between DB Cargo...Read more
New multimodal service between Xi’an-Oslo
Oslo now connects with the Chinese city of Xi’an via a new multimodal service. The first block train arrived at the Norwegian port on 26 December, following a trip estimated to last between 15 and...Read more
This is where 2020 has got Lithuania on the international railway map
Lithuania is poised to become an important Silk Road hub, and many milestones were reached in 2020. A direct line with Vilnius as the end destination, the connection with Kaunas to the European gauge network...Read more
Turkey’s train to China regular on the 2021 timetable
The rail freight service from Istanbul to Xi’an is now a regular on the timetables. The first China-bound train from Turkey departed on 4 December last year, and the second has just arrived in the...Read more
One step closer to multimodal route Turkey-Ukraine-Poland
A new multimodal route Turkey-Ukraine-Poland is in the pipeline. On 24 December, the Ukrainian Railway Transport Service Center “Liski” signed a memorandum of cooperation with Ukrferry and FerriPlus to establish this route. It will open...Read moreNew Silk Road in 2020: Covid-19, increased traffic and empty containers
2020 was a year of remarkable growth for rail freight traffic on the New Silk Road, despite the many difficulties. More trains, increased volumes, new destinations across the Eurasian routes, but also congestions, and imbalances...Read more
DB Cargo Eurasia exploits the rail option to the UK
The new multimodal service of DB Cargo Eurasia between the UK and China may have arrived just in time. It could facilitate vaccine distribution next year, and with Brexit around the corner, the company expects...Read more
Kazakhstan’s growing importance in transport routes
Kazakhstan’s role in Eurasian transportation during recent years is indisputable. The country sees significant volumes transported through its railway infrastructure yearly. A crucial transit destination for trade in the New Silk Road and a primary...Read more
Venlo receives first direct trains from China
Last week, Greenport rail terminal in Venlo received four trains from the city of Jinan, China. The trains were carrying clothing goods of the company PVH. After completing a trip of around 11,000 kilometres, they...Read more
Rail link between Iran-Afghanistan officially launched
As of Thursday 10 December, Iran and Afghanistan are connected by rail. The launching of the Khaf (Iran)-Herat (Afghanistan) railway line was accompanied by the first freight train carrying agricultural goods. A week earlier, a...Read more
Train traffic from China to Europe suspended
Train traffic from China to the border with Kazakhstan and Mongolia has been suspended, with the exception of scheduled journeys. This suspension was already in place since 8 December and has not been extended till...Read more
Istanbul-Xi’an new freight train service
On 4 December a new China-bound train set off from Istanbul carrying 42 containers with domestic appliances. The new service is estimated to kick off Turkey’s export trade towards China and provide a faster route...Read more
No wine under 1 degree, and no broken glass
The summer is over, and the wines are bottled. Some of these wines are already on the way to Japan. This is the case for the Beaujolais wine from Lyon, currently on the train to...Read more
This is what Europeans want from the New Silk Road
“Connections by rail to the rest of Europe, that is what Europeans want from the New Silk Road”, says Martin Koubek, Director of METRANS Silk Road. This is his take on the European perspective of...Read more