China-Europe rail shipments, shunned amid Ukraine war, have triggered a train reaction
- Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has basically turned an international freight network into the ‘China-Russia Railway Express’
- For those looking to avoid Russia, the Middle Corridor’s Caspian Sea is calling – but will it be their salvation or more like a siren’s summon?
With potential traffic paths dotted in red, a map of the mountainous transcontinental strip of land between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea sat on Bria Liu’s desk for days, perplexing the rail-freight veteran as a solution eluded her.
At the request of a client, she had hoped to figure out the feasibility of transporting 100 luxury cars from Milan, Italy, to Hong Kong – by train.
The catch? Aside from a preference for rail over the much slower traditional sea route, the client did not want the cars to pass through Russian territory.
But for now, Russia is practically unavoidable when talking about all mature routes of the intercontinental railway network known as the China-Europe Railway Express.
“So, the client hopes to explore a Caspian Sea route,” said Liu, managing director of Shanghai-based Toprail International Logistics, referring to what’s known as the Middle Corridor, or the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route.
The route spans from China to Kazakhstan, across the Caspian Sea, and through Azerbaijan and Georgia before splitting into two lines – one through Turkey, the other across the Black Sea – then arriving in Europe.
