New EU sanctions have direct impact on transport, rail excluded
A fifth package of sanctions has been announced by the EU. Among others, the EU wants to ban Russian and Belarusian road transport operators, as well as Russian vessels and Russian-operated vessels from accessing EU...Read more
The EU sanctions on Russia explained, what is still possible?
The EU has approved heavy sanctions against Russia in response to the military attack on Ukraine. How does this affect rail freight on the New Silk Road, which runs largely through Belarus and Russia? We...Read more
Russian Railways on the sanction list of EU and US
Both the EU and the US have included Russian Railways in their sanction list. It is not completely clear what this means for rail freight transactions between Europe and China, but it seems that doing...Read more
In RailFreight Fridays: the rail impact of the war in Ukraine
VIDEORussia has launched several military attacks on Ukraine. In response, the EU has imposed heavy sanctions on Russia. Both will impact traffic on the New Silk Road. This Friday, we discuss what has happened so...Read more
Maersk launches third Far East-Europe intermodal service
Maersk launched a new intermodal service linking the Far East with Europe. AE66, as it’s named, complements the logistic provider’s existing AE19 and AE77 services, all using the Trans-Siberian route. With a sea-rail-sea profile, AE66...Read more
St. Petersburg: the new Silk Road alternative gateway?
FELB launched a new service between St. Petersburg in Russia and Beijing in China. However, the service is multimodal, linking north European ports like Rotterdam, Duisburg or Hamburg with St. Petersburg before putting cargo on...Read more
New player enters Russian infrastructure service market
Sinara Transport Machines Holding (STM) established a new railway infrastructure division to offer infrastructure maintenance services in Russia starting from 2022. Russian Railways will be the new company’s primary customer, but it aims to expand...Read more
Russian Agroexpress launches first train to Uzbekistan
RZD Logistics and the Russian Export Center organised the first Agroexpress train from Russia to Uzbekistan via Kazakhstan. The train carried reefer containers with poultry meat and travelled between Tambov and Tashkent. The two companies...Read moreNew terminal opened in Kaliningrad to handle booming volumes
A new terminal has been opened in Kaliningrad, the Russian enclave and a main transit hub on the New Silk Road. On 1st October, the new transport and logistics centre East-West in the town of...Read more
High-speed flatcar will reduce Russia-China transit to seven days
Sinara Transport Machines Holding (STM) has developed a high-speed flatcar able to transport containers at a speed of 140 kilometres per hour. It is the latest addition to a series of high-speed rolling stock equipment...Read more
The military and convicts modernising a rail route?
At least for the Russian Railways, deploying military and possibly convicts seems like a viable solution for the lack of foreign construction workers. The Covid-19 related restrictions led to a shortage of workforce, and consequently,...Read more
Maersk’s AE19 service paces up after Suez blockage
Maersk’s AE19 rail service using the Trans-Siberian route is about to experience another increase of trips following its customers’ growing demand. Eastbound trains will now travel once per week instead of every fifteen days, while...Read more
Unified railway education from China to Europe: do we need it?
A digital meeting place for those who are hiring or wish to be hired along the New Silk Road. That is in short the Platform for the Transport and Logistics Career Center, developed by UTLC...Read moreMaersk pioneers with intermodal cold chain line from Turkey to Moscow
Maersk has dispatched the first refrigerated containers from Mersin, Turkey, to Moscow’s Selyatino terminal. The containers reached the Russian port of Novorossiysk by vessels through the Black sea and Moscow with a train operated by...Read moreNew locomotive service point opened on Russia-China border
Russian Railways announced the opening of a new locomotive service point at the Zabaikalsk station. The service point will serve the repair and maintenance of diesel locomotives, including those operating on narrow-gauge in foreign trade....Read more
Japanese cargo on the way to Europe via Trans-Siberian railways
Backed by Russian subsidies, a new container train carrying Japanese cargo departed for Europe on 18 November, using the Trans-Siberian railways. The train, which left from the Russian port of Vladivostok, is now headed for ...Read more
Russian Railways open information and training centre in Belgrade
As of 10 November, a Russian Railways information and training centre will operate in the Serbian Railways Head Office at Belgrade. The new regional centre is the result of the collaboration between RZD International LLC...Read more
Russian Railways prioritising electrification on freight routes
Russian Railways wants to increase the volume of cargo transportation by electric traction and give priority to the electrification of the busiest freight routes. This was announced by Sergey Kobzev, deputy manager director of Russian...Read more
Flooded bridge over Russia’s Kola River replaced by new structure
A new railway bridge across Russia’s Kola River near Murmansk has been put into operation. The previous bridge collapsed during a flood of the river on 30 May 2020. It lies on an important railway...Read more