Hupac has started a new rail freight connection between the Chinese hub of Xi’an and Warsaw, the capital of Poland. The first train arrived in the Polish city on 18 April, while the next train will depart in the couple of weeks from now. The transit time of the new service is 13 days.

The service Xian-Poland is planned on a weekly basis, the intermodal operator said. It has chosen Warsaw as a destination, as it already offers daily connections from there to other European hubs, such as Duisburg, Antwerp, Rotterdam, but also to markets in Spain, Italy and Switzerland.

Polish market

The first Hupac train left Xi’an on 5 April, carrying 48 loading units containing mainly consumer goods. Most of the containers were destined for customers in Poland, but some containers also to Germany, Spain and other destinations in Europe, explained Zhanna Kargl, head of Shuttle Net North-East Europe. The cargo was picked up by truck as also send by rail from the terminal in Warsaw.”

The company is anticipating cargo destined for different European markets via Warsaw hub by using the Hupac Group network. The opening of factories in Italy and Spain could play a role in demand, Kargl explained. “The closure of these factories has impacted rail freight volumes over the past weeks. This may now be revived.”

China link

Hupac maintains close cooperation with the Xian City Platform. In 2019 it successfully launched a train between Xian and Milan (Busto Arsizio). The centrally-located Chinese city is not the only one on the Hupac map. “We also cooperate with other Chinese platforms”, said Kargl.

In total, the intermodal operator in the period January-May 2020 moved between 300-400 containers coming from China to Europe, including the 48 x 40’ft containers of the train from Xian to Warsaw.