New Silk Road succeeds in cost reduction, less volatile than ocean freight
Eurasian rail freight has become more competitive due to significant cost reduction. Moreover, the cost of rail transportation is less volatile than the price of sea delivery, research firm Drewry concludes. Drewry is a leading independent...Read more
First Xi’an – Prague container train arrives
The first container train from Xi’an in China to Prague in Czechia arrived in the European city on 10 March. The journey took 11 days and terminated at the Ceska Trebov Terminal. The new train service...Read more
Russia eyes distribution centres on EU border
Russia is looking for new, modern distribution centres just at the border with Europe. In this way, it wants to facilitate the large cargo volumes between Europe and Asia, while at the same time be...Read more
Kazakhstan moves more cargo by rail to China in 2018
Railway traffic between Kazakhstan and China saw a major rise in 2018. Especially eastbound traffic increased significantly, with more than 50 per cent. This is a positive milestone for Eurasian railway traffic, which has seen...Read more
Can ports as Piraeus, Koper and Trieste win the hinterland volumes?
A tip of balance from northern to southern European ports in terms of intermodal traffic is not among the concerns of the port of Hamburg. The hinterland connections from the northern ports still prevail. This...Read more
Chengdu to have first fully automated rail terminal China
Chengdu plans to build the first fully automated international rail port of China. The new terminal will be able to handle 1.5 million containers per year, increasing its efficiency by thirty per cent. This was reported...Read more
New rail freight service between Italy and China
Rail freight operator Far East Land Bridge (FELB) is set to launch a new service between the intermodal terminal of Melzo (Milan) and Chengdu (Southeastern China) on 26 January. The service will transport goods without...Read more
Steady growth of rail freight volumes China
China’s rail freight volumes increased by 10.1 per cent year on year in October. The pace of growth accelerated from a rise of 9.7 per cent in September and 6.7 per cent in August. These figures...Read more
Slovakia has plenty of space to become transit hub on New Silk Road
Slovakia aims to become an important transit country on the New Silk Road. To be precise, it wants to acquire a share of at least fifty per cent of all railway traffic between Europe and...Read more
Kaliningrad: a multimodal solution to connect China with Europe
An alternative gateway between the European railway network and that of the CIS countries to improve traffic flow on the New Silk Road: this is the Kaliningrad route. Moreover, it is a multimodal route, offering...Read more
New rail freight service connects Spain and China
The transport operator DSV has started a rail freight service to connect Zaragoza Sea Terminal in Spain with the Chinese region of Sinkiang. The train transports Spanish goods for the renewable energy industry and it...Read more
How successful is the New Silk Road really?
The New Silk Road is not always the best option. The Silk Road is not the only route. And the numbers are impressive, but not the only numbers. These are some of the insights Onno...Read more
New rail freight services between Europe-China
October witnessed the addition of two new rail freight services on the New Silk Road. Trains are now transiting between the northeastern Chinese city of Changchun and Hamburg, in Germany. Meanwhile, a service between Łódź...Read more‘Freight tariffs on the New Silk Road must be safeguarded’
Part of the success of the New Silk Road are the attractive freight rates for transport by rail between China and Europe. Especially eastbound traffic enjoys favourable tariffs. However, these tariffs may not always remain...Read more
Tariffs on Trans-Caspian International Transport Route reduced
Tariffs on the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) are likely to be further reduced due to ongoing negotiations with maritime operators on the Black Sea. Fees were already lowered on routes between Kazakhstan, Turkey and...Read more
China and Singapore sign deals to shorten rail freight link
Singapore and the Chinese municipality of Chongqing have signed two joint venture agreements contributing to the development of the CCI Southern Transport Corridor, the Belt and Road branch connecting western China and South-East Asia. The...Read more
Twenty Chinese cities on Eurasian rail freight network
With a new rail freight line linking the north-western Chinese province of Qinghai with the European part of Russia, the number of Chinese cities connected to Europe by rail has reached twenty. Up till now,...Read more
New rail freight service Warsaw-Ganzhou
A new freight train service linking Warsaw with Ganzhou was launched last week. It is one of many new links between Europe and China, but among the first linking eastern China’s Jiangxi Province with the...Read moreChina signs lease of ‘Silk Road port’ Hambantota
China and Sri Lanka have come to an agreement about the level of Chinese control over port Hambantota, which is to play an important role on the Silk Road corridor. Commercial operations will be in...Read more