Although the sanctions by EU and the United States have not stopped international rail transport along the New Silk Road, the war has had a considerable indirect impact on the China-Europe freight train and even international freight. The freight volume on rail has declined.

According to a survey of more than 290 samples ( including Chinese freight forwarding companies, shippers，research institutions, government representatives ) conducted by New Silkroad Discovery, more than 55% of the surveyed believe that the freight volume of China-Europe freight trains has been negatively affected.

Among them, about 18.6% of the samples consider that the freight volume has dropped by 30% to 50%.

14% of the surveyed believe that the volume has declined by 50% to 80%, and almost the same number of the samples ( 13.4% ) believe that the volume had dropped by more than 80%.

Only 9.6% believe that the decline in volume was below 30%.

46% of the surveyed believe that the negative impact of the war on the freight volume of China-Europe freight trains should not be underestimated.

Another data of the survey showed that more respondents hold the view that westbound freight volumes were hit harder than eastbound shipments.

It can be seen that the impact of the war on market confidence has been reflected in the freight volume of the Eurasian railway transport. With more cargo being shifted to ocean shipping, it is foreseeable that ocean shipping capacity will be squeezed, and shipping rates may also rise. On the contrary, in order to attract more customers, railways may experience a downward trend in freight rates.

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Reporter: Raphael Zhang