Rhenus has joined the New Silk Road. On 11 October, the logistics giant opened a new rail freight service connecting South Korea, China, Russia and Poland.

The service aims to provide a viable logistics option for time-sensitive high-value goods. In addition, Rhenus also announced the expansion of the office scale of its Seoul branch in South Korea to strengthen its operational capabilities.

Shift to rail

Rhenus has until now focused on air and sea logistics services. With the new Eurasian rail freight service, it had made a conscious choice for rail. It noted that turnaround times can be up to 40 percent faster than ocean freight, and it can make financial savings compared to air freight.

The company is planning for weekly departures and door-to-door delivery. Patrick Dargel, General Manager of Rhenus Korea Branch, said, “With the spread of multimodal transport worldwide, the rail freight market in the Asia-Pacific region has great potential. Our introduction of rail transport services in Korea will help expand our existing The range of solutions provides customers with more reliable and customized options to smoothly plan their import and export needs.”

Value of rail

According to the data of the market research company Global Industry Analysts Inc., the global railway freight transportation market is valued at 159.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2020 and is expected to reach 205.3 billion U.S. dollars by 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of 4.3 per cent.

Moreover, since the pandemic rail has freight has taken off even further, proving itself as one of the most shock-proof transportation modes. Well-known logistics giants in air and ocean shipping have joined the New Silk Road.

At the beginning of this year, shipping giants such as Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping (MSC) opened the Japan-South Korea-Europe line through the Russian Far East ports. In addition, in September this year, Nissin Corporation (Nissin Corporation) and Russian Railways’ subsidiary Russian Railway Logistics Company signed a memorandum of understanding to develop the Japan-Russia-Europe sea-rail combined transport line.