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.

Since the beginning of 2026, client interest in rail freight via the standard corridor has increased. In January, transit times from the main rail terminals in China to Małaszewicze in Poland ranged between 13 and 25 days.
Geopolitical issues continue to present challenges for this mode of transport. The Russian sanctions policy is still in place, requiring a very detailed check on HS codes of goods. (Click for more)

Market Overview:

• Rates have been rising since the beginning of the year. In particular, trucking and container leasing fees have increased sharply, in some cases from one day to the next, due to capacity shortages.

• Although the rates have not yet been released, some rail operators have already announced a USD 300 rate increase in March.

• Destination depots in Warsaw and other European terminals are reaching capacity.

• Space is fully booked until the end of February.

• Significant congestion is being reported at the Dostyk border station, caused by contract renewal issues between Kazakh Railways and the ETT terminal. Around 20 trains are currently stuck. Since late January, rail operators have been avoiding the ETT terminal. This has led to capacity issues in Dostyk.

• We have recently encountered cases of cargo being detained by Kazakh customs. Although the goods were not on Russia’s sanctions list, Kazakh authorities requested additional technical descriptions of the products.

• There is a special cargo control list introduced by the local Industrial & Infrastructure Administration in 2023, and it appears that the authorities are utilizing it to randomly detain cargo.

Some observations regarding these detentions:

• Not all cargo on the list will be detained by Kazakh customs.

• Even for identical goods, not every transport appears to be affected (e.g. out of ten shipments on different days, only one was detained).

• Current feedback from rail operators suggests that this seems to happen at random.

• Until now, we have experienced the release of all containers after delivering the required documents.

Current market assessment from February 15, 2025:

Key Takeaways

Our Recommendations for Customers

• Overall, operations are running smoothly. However, due to higher volumes and additional customs checks, departures have been delayed and expected transit times have increased to around 20 days from the original terminal to Małaszewicze. cargo-partner continues to recommend rail services to customers.

• Terminal-to-terminal buying rates are expected to continue rising in March.

• In comparison to sea freight, which is also affected by many volatile factors such as blank sailings and low schedule reliability, rail freight remains competitive and is still an interesting option in terms of both costs and transit time.