Rail transport between China and the port of Hamburg is becoming increasingly popular as an alternative to air and sea freight in international trade, thanks to its lower carbon footprint and high speed transportation.
Service providers and rail operators have reported an increase in bookings during the coronavirus pandemic, which is due in part to suspended liner shipping and air services and growing demand for medical equipment.
Currently, there are 232 confirmed marketed connections between Hamburg and China, serving 20 destinations in the Asian country: Changchun, Changsha, Chengdu, Chongqing, Dalian, Ganzhou, Harbin, Hefei, Jinan, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Shilong, Suzhou, Weihai, Wuhan, Xiamen, Xi’an, Yantai, Yiwu, Zhengzhou.
Freight trains depart from various terminals at least once a week, and from the industrial centres of Chongqing, Chengdu, Zhengzhou and Xi’an up to five times a week. Their route, which is 10,000 to 12,000km long, runs either through Siberia and along northern Mongolia or via the southern route through Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus.
The trains take an average of 14 to 16 days between Hamburg and most of the 20 destinations. Connections to and from China’s eastern coast – such as to/from the cities Jinan and Yantai in Shandong Province – take about 21 days. This route is also served by the new “Shandong-Europe Express”, which was launched earlier this year.
China is the most important trading partner of the Port of Hamburg, in 2019 alone, around 2.6 million TEU were handled in seaborne trade. Almost one-third of all containers passing through Germany’s largest seaport have China as their destination or origin. As Europe’s largest railway port, Hamburg also plays an important role in land-based trade with China, especially as part of the New Silk Road. With the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China is developing an extensive economic zone between Asia and Europe and is primarily expanding continental rail traffic. As a result, over 100,000TEU were transported by rail between the Port of Hamburg and various destinations in China in 2019.
