16 Jul RAIL SHIPPING FROM CHINA TO EUROPE

Faster than ocean freight, cheaper than air freight.

China-Europe train route is the new way to container transportation, its faster than seaway, and cheaper than air freight. China-Europe rail freight has innovative development potential. Its play a crucial role in reviving global trade and business ties as a safer and greener form of logistics.

The speed of delivery on the railroad is sure to increase business volume between Europe and China. Compared to ships with delivery times between 30-35 days, train transportation, which takes an average of 14 days, reduces the delivery time in half. As a safer and more environmentally friendly form of logistics, it plays a critical role in increasing global trade, especially business volume between China and Europe.

How the Europe – China Railway Project Was Born

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), also called the New Silk Road, is one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects ever designed.

90% of the world trade takes place by seaway. Increasing density in Asian ports created problems in shipping times in sea transportation. Seasonal price fluctuations destabilize trade. The shipment of heavy and bulky goods by plane is very costly, and the shipment by sea takes a long time. Adding the railway’s strategic importance to all these reasons, he brought up the project of overcoming the distance between China and Europe with high-capacity trains.

The railway network development gained momentum with China’s New Silk Road (OBOR) announced in 2013 and the initiative renamed Belt and Road (BRI) in 2017.

China To Europe Railroad Capacity

The Northern corridor rail network between China and Europe has been active for five years (China-Kazakhstan-Russia-Belarus-Poland-Germany). The transport capacity of freight trains continues to increase. For example, In the beginning, the railway shipment capacity between China to Europe have 5 thousand containers in the past. It grew to 1.140.000 wagons in 2020.

The first train passed through the Horgos border gate in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwestern China in 2016. The number of China-Europe freight trains entering and leaving in 2020 is 12,400. Compared to 2019 data, we see that the number of trains has increased by more than 50%.

This capacity increase during the Covid-19 epidemic process gives hope for the next years. The word meaning of Horgos, a trade point on the northern route of the ancient Silk Road, was “the place where caravans passed”. 21st-century caravans will be China-Europe freight trains.

China To Europe Rail Routes

Trains travelling along 73 routes between China and Europe pass through 92 cities in 21 European countries. China Europe railway line is a large project. Freight transportation by train between China and Europe takes place on four main routes:

– The West Corridor (West Route)

– The North / West Corridor

– The North Corridor (Middle Route)

– The South Corridorn (Cafcasia &Turkey)

Some example Directions Between China & Europe

Yiwu to London:

The distance between Yiwu to London is about 12,000 km. (7,500 miles) Transit between London and Yiwu takes only 18 days. (a sea journey would take 5-6 weeks)

Countries that this line runs through, China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, France, UK

Yiwu to Madrid:

The longest distance from China of all the train route network coming to Europe ends in Spain. Yiwu to the Spanish city of Madrid, a distance of approximately 13,000 kilometres (8,100 miles)

Transit process between Madrid and Yiwu takes 21 days. (A sea journey would take six weeks)

This line runs through China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, France and finally Spain.

Hefei to Helsinki:

A train runs once every two weeks between Hefei in the east of China to the terminal Vuosaari near Helsinki. Delivery time along the route is 14 days. The distance is over 7000km (4400mile)

Countries that this line runs through, China, Kazakhstan, Russia and Finland

Hefei to Hamburg:

One train per week. Around 15 days transportation duration for 10,600 km (6600mile)

Countries that this line passes through, China, Kazakhstan, Russia Poland, Belarus, Germany

Xi’an to Prague:

China Railway Express from Xi’an to Prague to take 18 days. The train, which will go to Prague on a railway of 11,500 kilometres (7,145 miles) (a sea journey would take six weeks)

This line now that countries are China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, the Slovany, Czech Republic.

The ports on the European wing of the European railway line in China are increasing rapidly. In 2020, European cities such as Liege and Amsterdam were added to the existing train routes.

The Rotterdam-Chengdu multimodal route through the Kaliningrad port has become a designated route for container transportation between Europe and China. The Kaliningrad Railway has invested 4 million Euros for the integration of intermodal facilities. The container volume that can be transported through Kaliningrad by 2024 is estimated to reach 1.2 million TEU.