the volume of container traffic between China and Europe increased by 18% – Kommersant

In 2023, the volume of container train traffic between China and Europe increased by 18% compared to 2022, said Zubaida Aspaeva, chairperson of the Freight Transport Commission of the Organization for Cooperation between Railways (OSJD). In total, 17.5 thousand container trains were sent from China to Europe over the past year.

“In 2023, more than 17.5 thousand container trains were dispatched between China and Europe, which is 6% higher than in 2022, and 1.9 million TEU containers were transported. The growth was 18% higher than the level of 2022,” Ms. Aspaeva said at a meeting of the council of managers and responsible representatives of railway transport of the OSJD member countries in Ashgabat (quote from TASS).

Zubaida Aspaeva recalled that international container transportation as part of block trains between China and European countries was launched in 2011. To date, container train flights in the China-Europe and China-Central Asia directions have connected over 100 cities in 11 Asian countries and 217 cities in 25 European countries. In total, 5.3 billion tons of cargo were transported along the network of railway lines of the OSJD member countries with a length of more than 293 thousand km in 2023.

OSJD was founded in 1956. Currently, its members are 29 countries. Among them are Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Hungary, China, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Estonia. The organization is engaged in coordinating national strategies in the field of railway transportation and resolving legal issues related to railway transport.

Rail transport of containers from China to the EU in transit through Russian territory, which froze after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, is being restored. In the first quarter they grew by 44%, to 90 thousand.

Read more about this in the material “Chinese containers have headed to the EU”.