News / Silk Road rail and haulage rates rising, driven by Covid and border delays

2020 was another record-busting year for rail volumes on the New Silk Road, but a persistant bottleneck at the Kazakhstan border means lengthy delays for both rail and road freight.

According to Chinese media, China-Europe rail volumes reached 1.14m teu last year, up 56% on the year before, while figures from China State Railway Group shop train journeys passing 10,000, for the first time, to 12,400.

The volumes match those reported by the two major CIS railway companies, Russian Railways and narrow ...