New opportunities for rail transport

For long, rail transport has been considered a fine alternative to sea and air freight. Over the past year, Blue Water has experienced an increase in demand for transport of cargo from China. Many clients have discovered the benefits of choosing rail transport solutions since the re-opening of China.

The solution provides considerable cost savings compared to air freight, and with a reduced transit time of roughly 30 days compared to sea freight, it is a valuable alternative to many clients.

“After the re-opening in March, a great amount of finished goods had to be freighted to Denmark urgently. Originally, the goods were supposed to be shipped by sea, but the long transit time made it unattractive, and the missing passenger flights between China and Europe made the air freight costs explode”, says Kenneth Falkesgaard Hansen, Business Development Manager, Blue Water Esbjerg.

Growth is expected to continue

Further, figures from China Rail show a significant development. Considerably higher volumes are being transported this year than the year before. This has also entailed that Blue Water has upgraded agreements with rail operators, and we are continuously adding more departures. Today, we have four weekly departures through four different routes with own consolidations in Taulov, Denmark. Yet, the sudden growth has not been without challenges.

“A limited rail network and few border crossings have caused a bottleneck effect, which is why Chinese authorities have tried to regulate the departures. Our departments in Esbjerg, Denmark and Shanghai, China have cooperated to establish favourable agreements making us able to overcome great delays by creating alternative solutions to accommodate our clients’ needs”, says Kenneth Falkesgaard Hansen.

Despite the stabilisation of air freight, the demand for rail transport is still increasing. At the same time, we expect to open another route after Golden Week. With extra staff in China and more routes in the pipeline, Blue Water is ready to handle further shipments by rail.