Opened in 2011 as one of the key projects of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI or B&R), the China-Europe Railway Express (Cer Express), also known as “Xin'ou Lianyun”, is a service of transportation rail freight that connects China to Europe and which aims to offer a fast, reliable and convenient alternative to traditional maritime transport.
For years it was opposed, especially in the West, and considered as an initiative with a more character symbolic which is of real commercial importance. However, the events that have recently destabilized the global geo-political scenario, in particular the crisis that has interrupted a large part of the traffic through the Suez Canal, have pushed many European companies to look for alternatives capable of providing stability and predictability to supply chains.
China-Europe Railway Express: transport boom in 2024
According to China State Railway, the China-Europe Railway Express operated 2.928 trains in the first two months of 2024 alone, carrying 317 20-foot unit (TEU) equivalent cargo containers, with increases of 9% and 10% respectively on a year-on-year basis. annual. The network has expanded to cover 120 cities in China and reaches as many as 219 cities in 25 European countries.
The growing popularity of the service stems from its reliability to external interruptions. The problems of security are reduced along the rail route since it avoids piracy-prone waterways and potential conflict zones.
On the other hand, in response to the Red Sea crisis, many shipping companies have had to reroute their routes through the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. This move, which adds 14 days to east-west container trips and 18 days for tankers, results in higher costs. The recent Unctad report showed that shipping rates from Shanghai to Europe via ocean freight have tripled since November.
Here then, in terms of efficiency the railways present a advantage: Today China-Europe freight trains take about 12 days, while the normal transit time by sea is 35-45 days.
