Railfreight Insights
Read our Railfreight Insights to find out about the latest developments on the New Iron Silk Road between China and Europe. Get an update on trade and rate developments as well as flexible solutions offered by cargo-partner.
Rail freight via the standard corridor showed a stable service schedule during 2025, with transit times from the main rail terminals in China to Małaszewicze taking between 12 and 24 days in the first eight months of the year. However, geopolitical issues continue to present challenges for this mode of transport. An example of this was the recent closure of the Poland–Belarus border from September 12 to 25.
- Since the reopening, rail traffic has gradually resumed, and operators are working to clear the backlog as quickly as possible. Affected containers are expected to face total delays of two to four weeks.
- As a result approximately 300 trains were stopped, with around 100 trains waiting to enter the Polish territory alone. We expect the situation will normalize after Chinese Golden Week.
- Additional fees may be applied by container operators in accordance with their general terms and conditions, including charges for container or wagon rental and storage at terminals.
- October rates have decreased by 100–300 USD per container (depending on the operator) for the aforementioned reasons.
- The Russian sanction policy is still in place, requiring a very detailed check on HS codes of goods. (Click for more)
Current market assessment from October 6, 2025:
Legend: traffic lights showing current status, arrow indicates possible development of transport rates.
Current Key Takeaways
Our Recommendations for Customers
We expect rail services to recover comparatively quickly after the recent border shutdown. Operations should be smooth again within October. Services should offer a transit time around 14 days from the main terminals in China to Małaszewicze and around 20-22 days up to Western and Eastern Europe.
In comparison to sea freight, which is also affected by many volatile factors like blank sailings and low schedule reliability, rail freight remains competitive and is still an interesting option in regard to costs and transit time. For example, our company is currently not experiencing any significant delays on the westbound route.
cargo-partner Solutions:
Our service utilizes the standard routing from China/Kazakhstan with Małaszewicze as the entry point to Europe.
- Benefit from our LCL services with weekly departures from Shanghai, Shenzhen and Ningbo to Europe via our hubs in Warsaw and Dunajská Streda. [click for more]
- Use our FCL services for frequent and secure connections from several major gateway stations in China and Europe, with the possibility to organize a block train solution. [click for more]
- Take a look at our FCL and LCL solutions beyond China – if you want to use rail transport to Europe from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand and India. [click for more]