2017 will forever be billed as the year that the China-Europe rail services shifted supply chain patterns.
On January the 18th the first train from China rolled into the London Eurohub in Barking, it had departed on the first day of the year, some 17 days earlier.
It is expected that this new innovative service is expected to eat into both air and sea freight volumes – air freight appearing to be especially vulnerable.
“We now have two trains per day, with about 80 teu and 41 containers per train,” explained Karl Gheysen. “It runs three times a week to Duisberg, but we have also have services to the Netherlands, Madrid, Iran and now the UK. The capacity is 540,000 teu a year, but we could make it a million.”
Khorgos Gateway was built by the Kazakhstan government where the rail gauge changes – making it a good point for transhipment. There are now some 10 rail lines from the gateway, opening almost limitless options around Europe, the CIS and Asia.
Our agents in China, M+R Forwarding, are heavily involved in this new service. Have a read of their Rail Service Introduction by clicking on the link.
Want to know more about this rail service?
- The transit is approx 10,000 to 12,000 kilometers long (depending on routing)
- It takes approx 12 to 18 days (depending on routing)
- The containers also have GPS monitoring, which reassures shippers with concerns over the security of the route.
- LCL freight is also available (less than container load) to some destinations
Contact us today for further information.
