Infographic: China-Europe freight train trips top 140,000 as land corridor gains ground

(AI-assisted Creation)

The China-Europe freight train service passed 140,000 cumulative trips on Oct. 22, 2026, a milestone that underscores its role as a reliable logistics corridor for Eurasian trade, especially as geopolitical tensions and disruptions to traditional shipping routes challenge global supply chains.

The milestone was marked as a train bound for Moscow departed Puhe station in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province, at around 11:30 a.m. Thursday. The value of goods transported by the China-Europe freight train service has exceeded 560 billion U.S. dollars since 2011.

The figures reflect that Eurasia's overland corridor has shifted from a niche alternative to a mainstay of regional logistics. This shift is seen not merely in the number of trains, but in what they carry, their destinations, and the reliability of their arrivals.

The growth has been steady rather than sudden. Annual trips rose from 1,702 in 2016 to 20,022 in 2025, an average annual increase of more than 30 percent, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

As a flagship project and a landmark brand of the Belt and Road Initiative, the China-Europe freight train service, also referred to as the "steel camel caravans," has established a comprehensive logistics network across Eurasia.

The expansion has come as geopolitical tensions, disruptions to maritime routes and high air freight costs pushed more trade firms to look for stable and efficient transport channels. Rail freight costs roughly one-fifth of air transport and takes about one-quarter of the time of sea transport, and it is less exposed to weather and to disruption on traditional maritime routes, according to the NDRC.

The network has broadened in step. Within China, 96 scheduled routes for trains traveling at 120 km per hour link 132 cities along the western, central and eastern corridors, while overseas the network runs on three lines: northern, central and southern.

The overseas routes now reach 237 cities in 26 European countries and more than 100 cities in 12 Asian countries, covering most parts of Eurasia, according to China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. (China Railway), the national rail operator.

The southern route shows where that demand is going. Operating on a regular basis, it ran 746 trains in the first nine months of 2026, up 125 percent year on year, far faster than the network as a whole. Regular service linking the Chinese city of Xi'an with Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, began in July 2024, and one such service traverses Central Asia and crosses the Caspian Sea before continuing to Europe either via the overland railway network or by crossing the Black Sea.